That said, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Google recently announced that they will be sunsetting one of the most beloved ad types.

On August 31, 2021, Google Ads announced that they will begin phasing out the expanded text ads (ETAs) starting on June 30, 2022. While this might be upsetting to many digital marketers who like to have more control over their campaigns, there were several instances where Google foreshadowed this event over the last year.

However, it wasn’t until February 2021 that Google no longer allowed users to create expanded text ads from the ad creation menu and seemingly hid the option to do so. This was the ultimate foreshadowing of the ETAs’ slow demise.

Upon first glance, it looks as though Google has already phased out the ETAs as we now only see the options to create responsive search ads (RSAs) and call-only ads.

However, when we click into the responsive search ad setup, Google still gives the option to switch back to the expanded text ads, as seen here highlighted in red. (Thanks, Google, for continually trying to make our jobs more difficult.)

Expanded Text Ads vs. Responsive Search Ads

Before we go into what this change really means, we should quickly define what expanded text ads and responsive search ads are, how they are similar, and how they differ.

ETAs

• More control
• 3 descriptions
• 2 headlines
• Consistent messaging
• Lower relevancy potential
• Update ads more often

RSAs

• Rely on automation
• Less control
• Up to 15 headlines
• Up to 4 descriptions
• Take more time to create
• Higher relevancy potential

Similarities

• Look the same on SERPs
• Function in the same way
• Keyword and CTA tactics
• Dynamic headline usage
• Need both in all ad groups
• Relevancy is key

While we know there are some similarities between the two ad types, those who have been accustomed to utilizing ETAs and RSAs in tandem as a best practice within their ad groups will have to hit the drawing board and update their ad copy and strategy to stay competitive in the ever-changing Google PPC environment.

What is happening to the ETAs?

Now that RSAs are the new Google Ads default, what is happening to our beloved ETAs? While expanded text ads are not completely going away, Google has announced that we can no longer create or edit these ad types.

Essentially, this means that you can continue to run your ETAs with no expected performance dips, but you will not be able to make any changes to them after June 22, 2022. This may seem like a saving grace, but it may not be anything more than Google foreshadowing once again that ETAs are vanishing for good.

While we can do all the ad stacking in our ad groups that we want and try to find as many combinations to use as we possibly can, the Google Ads ETA will no longer be the same.

Things to consider when creating ETAs

Take this into consideration:

• Landing page changes can’t be reflected on the ETA ad copy.
• New service updates can’t be reflected in the ETAs.
• Your URLs must stay the same, even if you update them on your end.
• No updates based on seasonality can be made.

As marketers, we know how fast-paced our optimizations can be and that there is always something to change. There are multiple things that can happen that encourage us to make adjustments to our ads, and now, we will only be able to do that in Google responsive search ads.

Eventually, no matter how many expanded text ads you stack up in your ad groups, there will be something that needs to be changed that will no longer be editable. It is inevitable, no matter how hard we push back, that we will soon need to rely on responsive search ads to drive performance.

In my professional opinion, it won’t be much longer that ETAs will be completely irrelevant, whether you have them in your ad groups or not.

How do we respond to the change?

Responding to the change is simple. We need to continue to comply with what Google has to offer, so the best way to respond to the change is to maximize what we can get out of responsive search ads.

While it is typically agreed that most marketers will try to get the most out of expanded text ads, it will become even more imperative that responsive search ads are optimized to the fullest.

Overcoming the ETA demise is as simple as making sure we use standard best practices when creating responsive search ads. Here are our Google advertising agency’s suggestions:

• Utilize keywords from the account in your headlines.
• Pull content directly from the landing page for headlines and descriptions to increase ad strength and relevancy.
• Make sure your headlines are unique.
  • Know when to use short headlines vs. long headlines.
  • Highlight as many benefits, services, or products as you can.
  • Write similar variations of the same headline, and use different calls-to-action.
• Pin one or two headlines that you always want shown in a certain position.
• Utilize all four of the ad descriptions.
• Unless pinned, make sure all headlines and descriptions make sense in any order they are shown.
• Continue to run A/B testing to find out which ad variations are the most successful in driving leads and/or sales.

Conclusion

As Google continues to push toward increased  automation, we must keep pushing forward and adapting how we go about our day-to-day and monthly ad copy optimizations.

Remember to always test your ad copy to find out which headline and description combinations drive the best performance while continuing to maintain your current optimization schedule for all other aspects of your Google Ads campaigns.

Although this change from Google is not the most popular update Google has announced, it is far from the last. That said, a proper send-off for expanded text ads is in order, so without further ado, we thank you, ETA, for being one of the best lead-driving components of our Google Ads for the last several years. You will be missed.

Looking for a Google advertising agency to help you navigate the many changes with Google Ads? BrandCraft offers all the services you need. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

The post Google Continues to Push Automation Agenda With Responsive Search Ads as Expanded Text Ads Phase Out appeared first on BrandCraft.

Luckily, contact forms plugins make that possible 24/7. Users can fill out a form to get in touch with you, and you can qualify that lead. 

Be warned: not all contact forms are made equally. Not only is providing a contact form to your users opening a line of communication, but it’s also adding a vulnerability to your website build.

So, make sure you choose a trusted contact form plugin as well as add extra spam security for your site and customers’ safety. Below are some suggestions.

Best Contact Forms Plugins for Your New Web Build

Consider one of these contact forms plugins as you put together your new website:

#1: Gravity Forms

This beast of a drag-and-drop contact form builder has many add-ons that make it arguably the best contact form plugin. It pairs easily with many email services if you are creating newsletter subscriptions or if you’re working with an e-commerce platform and need to take payment information. (It even partners with the top payment platforms, including PayPal and Stripe.)

There are multiple add-on features for Gravity Forms, allowing you to create multi-page forms, cognitive logic structures, polls, and so much more. Not to mention, it comes with the added benefit that on every plan for Gravity Forms, you have built-in form security features, such as honeypot and Akismet.

Each form comes with built-in notifications for you and provides a confirmation message to your users, making building your first form as easy as 1,2,3.

Since Gravity Forms is a high-end contact form costing a minimum of $59 annually, the support services are outstanding, from chats to calls and email support for your new web build.

#2: WPForms

WPForms is definitely a crowd pleaser and considered one of the best WordPress form plugins, featuring all the amazing services Gravity Forms offers, but you can start out at zero dollars. Some of the top features include multi-page forms, email subscription forms, cognitive logic, and order forms.

While the free price tag is appealing, many of the powerful features that website developers expect from contact forms come at a price, requiring you to upgrade to the Basic account at $79 annually.

#3: Ninja Forms

Finally, if you want a simple contact form builder at no extra cost, Ninja Forms is the plugin you need. It comes with helpful support if this is your first website build, and it’s completely free.

While many people consider it the best free contact form plugin for WordPress, the downside to this simple plugin is that it doesn’t offer any of the bells and whistles that the other plugins do, such as built-in anti-spam, cognitive login, and payment processing.

Bonus Tips: Whatever you do, don’t use Contact Form 7.

Trusting the top-downloaded free contact form is a rookie mistake. Just because it’s the most downloaded form doesn’t make it the best. This is the dinosaur of contact form plugins. It’s been here since the beginning of time.

It was once a great tool, but it did not keep up with the times, making it an outdated user interface, not comparable to other drag-and-drop form builders. It also often requires custom styling with HTML. Avoid this one.

Pro Tip: Remember to download WP Mail Logging, as WordPress doesn’t log any emails it sends through contact forms. This will keep a record for you in the future if you ever need to troubleshoot your contact form notifications. 

For example, if users tell you they’ve submitted a form, but it’s not getting to your email box, this plugin will help you find that message. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Upload this when you choose your contact form plugin for your web build.

Conclusion

There are many powerful contact forms plugins out on the market, and we have only scratched the surface. Before you purchase a form builder plugin, make sure to list all the features you expect to use over time before falling for the cheapest price tag.

It’s always easier to start with a basic plan and upgrade in the future than rebuild your forms for every new plugin. Have questions about the best tools for your website build? Contact BrandCraft today.

The post Best Contact Forms Plugins for Your New Web Build appeared first on BrandCraft.

Below, we’ll share our most recent client spotlight, HFG Trust and Community First Bank, including  how our website development team helped them create a new site and reach more customers by merging two brands under one cohesive front.

HFG Trust and Community First Bank Website Development Fusion

Both HFG Trust and Community First Bank offer a wealth of products and services. As stated on their new website, “Our Mission is to be Your Financial Partner For Life. This means that we strive to take care of all of your financial needs under one roof.”

We worked with the two brands as they merged into a single powerhouse to bring clients services in personal banking, business banking, commercial lending, 401(k) plans, portfolio management, and much more.

Working hand in hand with this client on website development, our team consolidated content from HFG Trust and Community First Bank to create a single website housed under one domain. Let’s talk about the specifics.

Project Details

The project’s key goal was building a seamless user experience for HFG Trust investment clients and Community First Bank clients when the two sites merged, all while maintaining both brands’ integrity.

Web Development Concept and Kickoff

The initial concept included 25 web pages to build with a blog. Eventually, this project grew to over 30 pages, including two mockups in desktop and mobile formats as well as four domain redirects.

Our website development team kicked off the project in August 2020. We began designing in September 2020 and finalized the website design mockups.

The real development started in November. In this process, our team went through multiple client reviews to update the content, menu, page designs, and theme.

The design required specific plugins and features, including:

• Events Pro, ReCAPTCHA (for spam)
• DUO authentication (for privacy)
• accessiBe (for ADA compliance)

Finalizing the Website Build to Launch

Due to the many moving pieces, the new HFG Trust and First Community Bank site build was complex. Before launching the new site, we needed to ensure it was hosted on Kinsta.

Our website development company moved the website to Kinsta once the development was complete. Finally, in April 2021, we handed the site over to the client.

Since our team is continuing to host and maintain the site, we put together a “disaster plan” as requested by the client. This is the rule book if anything goes wrong. This is necessary for the security of the information the website holds.

The plan was developed by both the BrandCraft web development team and HFG Trust’s IT team. Working together, we established the process in case specific scenarios cause any site issues.

We worked through additional edits and updates with the client as requested until they were ready for launch. We assisted the client with the launch on August 27, 2021, and have since performed website maintenance three times per month as well as helped the client make minor updates.

Conclusion

Joining HFG Trust and Community First Bank was both a challenging and rewarding project. The new website development successfully united both banking and wealth management services under one roof. This client now has all the tools it needs to continue to be there for their clients.

Need a website development agency to help simply things for you? BrandCraft is a phone call away. Contact us today to arrange a consultation.

The post Client Spotlight: HFG Trust and Community First Bank Website Development Fusion appeared first on BrandCraft.

While you can sell your products on Amazon’s Seller Central, you can also promote and advertise those products to increase your rank on search results pages. As your ads are clicked on, your organic (original, non-sponsored) product listing will start to increase in rank. Ideally, you’d want to occupy the most space towards the top of the page to gather the most eyes on your product. This gives your product and brand the most awareness.

As part of our series on paid ad platforms today we are going to discuss Amazon Ads.

Should You Invest in Amazon Ads? Here’s How it Works.

Similar to Google and Microsoft, your ad setup will depend on the keywords you target and the information you put into your product listing to create the most relevancy for the search query. Budget allocation is also extremely similar, with bid strategies either being a daily budget allocation or a lifetime budget for the campaign.

A lifetime budget means that you do not want to spend any more than, say $1,000 on a campaign, once that $1,000 has been used Amazon will no longer run ads. It’s important to note that the lifetime budget option is only available for sponsored brand campaigns.

The Difference Between Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products

When running sponsored ads on Amazon, you can choose whether you want to run a Sponsored Brand or a Sponsored Product campaign.

Sponsor Brand

Sponsored Brand campaigns are used when you want to drive awareness and traffic to your brand as a whole. These ads typically include your brand logo, a headline, and up to three different ASINs. ASIN is Amazon’s version of a SKU, in other words, 3 different products. When clicked, shoppers can be taken to your brand storefront on Amazon, the product listing, or a product category.

Sponsor Products

Sponsored Products are individual products that you promote. These are targeted based on the relevancy of the product information, your keywords, and the search term the shopper used. When clicking on this ad, the shopper will be taken to the product page. Use this type of ad when you’d like to drive sales and ranking for a particular product.

Types of Amazon Ads 

Like most paid search platforms, there are options to choose from with Amazon. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different types of ads:

• Sponsored Ads: These can either be sponsored products, which is where you’re boosting a specific product, or they can be sponsored brands, which is where your brand profile is the ad highlighted on the search result. There are also sponsored display ads that utilize Amazon’s third-party and partner sites to showcase your products.
• Amazon Demand-Side Platform: Reach audiences both on and off Amazon using their network of partners and third-party exchanges. To note, when using these ads, you do not need to be selling items on Amazon or linking back to Amazon. However, we don’t recommend this option unless you are seeing success in other advertising campaigns. As this typically requires around $35,000 yearly spend.
• Audio Ads: These play as people are listening to Prime Music, often on their Alexa’s
• Video Ads: These are similar to Google’s video ads, but appear on different platforms, like IMDb, Fire TV, etc.

Conclusion

If you work with an e-commerce business, we highly recommend adding Amazon Ads to your marketing strategy. You will have to access the millions of shoppers that are using this platform for their everyday necessities.

If you think that Amazon Ads are right for your marketing strategy and would like to gain a better understanding of what these services can do for your company, contact BrandCraft Marketing to chat with one of our Paid Ads Experts.

The post Part 5: Should I Invest in Amazon Ads? appeared first on BrandCraft.

For most small businesses, paying for these tools doesn’t make sense. So, are there free tools, and are they any good?

The short answer? Yes! There are many free tools, though they are not all created equal. You want to find a tool that can show you search volume for suggested keywords with fresh data from Google and other top search engines.

On top of this, ranking difficulty and SERP features for each keyword is helpful.

That brings us to an important question: which of these tools does an SEO agency recommend? Here’s our list.

10 Free Keyword Research Tools Our SEO Agency Recommends

Our SEO agency, BrandCraft, suggests using one of the free keyword research tools below:

1. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is usually used for target keywords for ads. However, the information that it provides is useful for both paid ads and SEO. There are two tools inside Keyword Planner: Discover New Keywords and Search Volume and Forecasts.

The Discover tool accepts either a seed keyword or a domain to search, and then, it spits out several keyword suggestions. It also includes the ability to add keywords to a list, which you can export later.

The Search Volume and Forecast tool accepts a list of keywords (use the Discover tool first), and then, it provides an average monthly search volume and competition level.

Since this tool is meant to be used with Google Ads, there’s a chunk of data that will be irrelevant for SEO, like the ad impression share and top of page bid. This is a great tool that covers your  bare minimum keyword research needs, but it’s very accurate and up to date.

2. Google Trends

Google Trends is another Google tool that helps with keyword research. This tool is SEO focused, and it allows you to see how certain keywords trend from as far back as 2004 to as recent as the last hour.

The only drawback is that you can only research one keyword at a time. However, once you input your keyword, you are shown the interest in the keyword over time, based on the timeline you select.

On top of the interest-over-time graph, you can also see the popularity of that keyword by region, and you’ll get a list of related topics and keywords, both of which you can export and share.

You can also compare your seed keyword to up to four other keywords at once, with related keyword lists for each, as well as their individual popularity in general and by region.

3. Keyword Generator

Keyword Generator is a tool by Ahrefs that can find up to 150 keywords with a seed keyword. With each list of generated keywords, the first 10 include the keyword difficulty, a number out of 100, with higher numbers indicating higher difficulty.

However, note that this metric is based entirely off of the number of backlinks and not at all on user intent, content quality, or page authority.

Other metrics include search volume for each keyword as well as how recent their numbers are. This tool also allows you to change which country you are targeting from a list of over 170 countries as well as the search engine, with options including Google, Bing, YouTube, and Amazon.

4. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a freemium tool by Neil Patel. You can get a domain overview, including a list of keyword ideas from a seed keyword as well as content ideas, based off of existing content on the Internet that ranks for your keywords. Ubersuggest is a full SEO tool that features a competitive analysis, rank tracking, etc.

Just keep in mind that while the free version is powerful and provides many tools, you can only get seven days of historical data. Signing up (also for free) gets you a little more information and increases your tracked keyword limit, while the paid version (starting at $29/month) gives you complete access to the whole suite of tools.

5. Moz

Moz is a premium tool suite of SEO tools, several of which are free on their own. The real power in Moz is the whole suite of tools working together, but for keyword research, their free keyword explorer works great. However, it does require that you sign up for a free account.

Once you have your free account, you can enter a URL or seed keyword to get a list of suggested keywords, complete with search volume, keyword difficulty, and SERP features (like a local map pack, knowledge panel, or Q&A cards).

6. SpyFu

SpyFu is a competitive analysis tool. Again, this is another premium suite of tools with free individual tools that are used by some of the best SEO agency teams. SpyFu is great to get an idea of what keywords your competitors are ranking for and compare those keywords with the keywords that you yourself are ranking for (which you can find using this tool or Search Console (more on that below)). 

The drawback of this free tool is that because it is freemium, the data available is limited until you pay (with only five keywords available). Pricing for the full version starts at $33/month. (Have questions? Talk to an SEO a​​gency near me.)

7. WordStream

WordStream’s free keyword tool covers both Google and Bing stats for keywords. And while it focuses on ads for those platforms, the data is still relevant. Once you add your seed keyword or domain, you’ll get a list of 15 keywords with search volume for both Google and Bing. You can refine your search by choosing an industry that your keyword is in and a location (country or state).

You can get more than 15 keyword suggestions for the price of your email address. They will email you the full list of your keyword suggestions, including all the search volume data.

8. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is arguably one of the best sources for keyword research. Once you set up Search Console for your website, give it a few days to a week to collect data. Then, check out your performance report.

For best results, filter out any keywords that include your brand name, and sort by impressions rather than clicks. Doing this will help you find the keywords that you want to target.

Tip: Start with the keywords getting the most impressions but a small number of clicks, and focus on providing improved or new content for those.

9. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is a great source for long-tail keywords. Once you add your seed keyword, they find related keywords in the form of questions, prepositions, comparisons, alphabeticals (Google autocomplete suggestions), and related searches. The initial search results are a visualization, broken up by category, but you can switch this to a list view.

AnswerThePublic does have a paid version, which is required for multiple searches, so figure out which keyword will be the best seed, and you’re off to the races. Once you have your list, you can export it to a CSV for further sorting.

10. Keyword Sheeter

Keyword Sheeter is a very basic tool that is great for pumping out a ton of keywords lightning fast. Enter your keyword, and get your list. This tool does not give you the search volume, but it does allow you to filter positive and negative words.

For instance, if you used “calligraphy” for your seed keyword, you could add “how to” as a positive keyword, and you’d get a list of great, informational keywords that could be helpful for content ideas.

Negative keywords do the exact opposite. If you used “website design” as your keyword, and you’re looking for actual designers, not tools, you could add “tool, builder, software, program” as negative keywords to make sure you only see results for website designers.

Let an SEO agency handle it

Doing your own research and writing your own content are great. You’re the subject matter expert, so you are naturally the most qualified to write your content.

However, if doing all the research seems daunting or straight-up boring, BrandCraft can take that burden off of your shoulders.

Keyword research and implementation are what we do. If you’d like some help getting your site optimized, schedule a consult with our SEO agency now.

The post 10 Free Keyword Research Tools Recommended by an SEO Agency appeared first on BrandCraft.

Near the kickoff of your business, you might be on the lookout for a logo designer. A brand identity guide goes hand in hand with a logo package creation, but you’re probably wondering, “What exactly is a brand identity guide?”

In this blog, we’ll cover what’s included, its importance to your business, the difference between a brand identity guide vs.  a brand guide, and when to use the guide. Let’s get started.

What is included in a brand identity guide?

At the very least, your business might only have a logo and maybe a vague color palette. When you, your team, or vendors are working with your brand, questions might come up on how to use your brand properly or at least keep it  consistent.

The brand identity guide includes most of your brand’s visuals. It covers your brand’s basic elements, such as your logos, colors, and fonts; all of which can bring a little more consistency to your business.

Company Logos

Businesses should have more than just one logo. If you have only one logo, you’re either as successful as Nike, or you don’t think you need other versions. A professional company can pivot and swap in an alternative logo variant depending on the workspace.

This guide brings clarity on the best logo to use for different formats. Curious about what to look for in a logo designer? Check out this blog.

Brand Color Scheme

What you don’t want is inconsistent brand colors. Although YouTube and Coca-Cola’s primary color is red, they are indeed different.

Both brands have a standard look, and they ensure consistent brand colors. Consistency is professional. Be sure you’re aware of how different colors affect your brand, and use colors to make your company appear more professional to your target audience.

For additional tips on color schemes for your branding, read this blog.

Brand Font(s)

Another one of the important brand identity elements is the font(s). It highlights your company’s fonts, how to style the different header, and the body copy’s general look.

It’s easy to overstyle fonts, which results in a discordant brand. Font styles should cover everything, including different font weights, underlining, italicizing, and capitalization.

Of course, be wary of the number of characters in your headers if you go with an ALL-CAPS styling, as this affects legibility. You can read more about this here.

Why is it important to have a brand identity guide?

As we mentioned before, consistency is important, and your brand should be this way at all touchpoints. This builds a sense of trust and professionalism. This guide will assist you in keeping all your creative assets cohesive with your brand.

As this marketing blog states:

“Brand inconsistency generally leads to: miscommunication, brand confusion, erosion of trust, and poor customer experience.”

Chances are, you’re not the only one creating your marketing graphics or ads. You might be connecting with a vendor about a printing project, and they are most likely unfamiliar with your brand.

This guide isn’t foolproof, but when utilized, it can help make everything feel like one unity–even if you have multiple people involved with your brand. (Need design assistance? Request information about our brand identity design services today.)

What are the differences between a brand identity guide and brand guide?

Here’s a quick look at the difference between both documents:

Brand Identity Guide

Think of your brand identity guide as your company’s basic document. It covers most of the brand’s visuals and goes in-depth on the brand’s logo, color, and type styles.

Brand Guide

The brand guide contains the full brand identity guide plus more in-depth knowledge on the company’s background. Some of the parts that make up the brand guide’s core are sections about the brand’s positioning, content, voice/tone, promise, and more.

This guide initially covers all the brand’s behind-the-scenes decisions. It helps significantly with content for the businesses website, social media posts, collateral, and more.

When will I use a brand identity guide?

Use the brand identity guide when you’re unfamiliar about how to display the business in a public or internal way. If one is working on an internal document for the office, you should reference the brand identity guide’s’ font and font styling rules.

If you’re creating something for  a flyer or Facebook ad, you should reference many different pages from the brand identity guide. You can also utilize this document when sending files to a magazine or print vendor that is assembling your design projects.

Conclusion

Use your brand identity guide to ensure your marketing assets are in alignment every time. Earn the public’s trust, and connect with your audience by using your logo correctly, using the proper color codes on both print and online formats, and making sure your font and type styling are consistent.

Go the extra mile, and get your brand guide (brand identity guide included) created. That way, your tone, messaging, and delivery are all in position.

Investing in a brand identity guide helps with the basics of getting your business started. Don’t chance looking unprofessional and untrustworthy. Contact BrandCraft today for help with your brand identity design.

The post Your Brand Identity Guide: The Basics appeared first on BrandCraft.

Business owners come in all types. I’ve read many books and talked with countless entrepreneurs about their trials and tribulations. I have also witnessed the unfortunate demise of several businesses–some surprising and some not so much.

With that, I bring you a very abbreviated list of things you should know. I continue to crave new knowledge as our business grows, and I hope you find some of this helpful and inspiring.

10 Things Every Business Owner Should Know

Starting a business? Here’s what every business owner should know:

#1: Business owners don’t necessarily make more money than W-2 employees.

When planning for your big career change, don’t expect to make much money at first. It could be a year or even a couple of years before you make enough to pull some out for yourself.

Starting a business from scratch takes an enormous effort of time. Once launched, don’t expect instant success. Not all will succeed; some will fail.

It is important that you have the runway to stay in business long enough to build brand recognition. On the flipside, you don’t want to keep it going if it’s just not working.

#2: The most successful businesses don’t always have a new, superior idea or product.

I am the CEO of a marketing agency. I find it energizing to hear new small  business owners share their plans.

We get to hear from business owners about all aspects of their products or services. And, of course, nearly all of them are certain of their success for different reasons. What I have learned from these interactions is this:

Our most successful clients have not always had great products; they all have good products. They all take the business seriously, but some are just much more pragmatic about what will lead to success.

I tend to see those who are convinced they have the “next big thing” almost always a flash in the pan.

In today’s information age, I want it to be clear that whatever idea you have has likely already been tried, is already being built, or already exists. Sometimes, the small difference in how a product is made, delivered, distributed, or re-thought leads to success.

#3: Don’t rely solely on your business plan to guide you through your first years in business.

I will just get this off my chest. I am not a big fan of business plans. I don’t know how anyone could sit down and write out a business plan that would be 100 percent accurate without having operated the business for at least two years.

That being said, it is still an OK exercise as it helps you identify your business’s different needs. Business plans are a good starting point to test and incorporate your initial predictions, and see how things go.

But whatever you do, don’t let your business plan guide you to failure. Pivot–fast, if you need to do so.

#4: You need more than detailed planning and processes to ensure your success from the beginning.

You need a certain amount of runway to start a business. That runway is built on preparation, ideation, cash, and action. Way too much time is spent on preparation and cash.

I believe success is more predetermined by ideation and action than anything else. Preparation is important, but don’t let this keep you from starting.

Enough cash to survive is also important, but a great business can almost always find investors or access to cash down the road.

#5: Your service or product doesn’t need to be perfect before selling it.

Your service or product need only be in stable beta form to sell. In fact, why not try to sell it before getting a business license, business plan, bank account, or business card?

Too many people put off the, in my opinion, hardest part of business: selling and testing. Many people, especially friends and family, will pat you on the back and praise your idea.

They will tell you, “Of course, I would pay for that.” The trick is finding 10, 100, or 1,000 people who are actually willing to part with their money and give it to you.

Why not test that before you spend too much time and money?

#6: What works for others may not work for you.

It’s relatively easy to find someone who has been successful doing exactly what you want to do. Unfortunately, there is a trend of people making money by sharing “their exact recipe” with those who are willing to buy it.

If you need to buy your business plan or business idea, somebody else in your neighborhood is likely doing the same thing at this very moment. This type of copycat, “instant business owner” creation is nothing more than a money-making idea for those selling it.

The truth is, as I’ve stated above, the path to success isn’t just about the idea or the recipe. It’s also about the small things.

#7: Cash is king.

Cash is every business’s lifeblood. There are a few exceptions, mainly in software and social media, of well-funded startups that sacrifice cash for users.

But even those types of companies have a plan to turn into a cash-positive business at some point.

From day one, cash will be an important measure of success and provide you the ability to make growth moves. When you price your product or service and determine your marketing budget, do so with a positive-cash-flow mindset.

Allowing lengthy net terms and IOU notes are big risks to new companies. Great clients and great customers nearly always want to pay you for your services.

#8: Cash kills.

If cash is king, why would cash kill a company? I think this is more human nature than a business rule.

I’ve seen many companies became flush with cash too early, leading them to make poor business decisions.

Maybe these types of companies become complacent and believe the early success will continue. They may create and execute on marketing initiatives that are more self-serving and self-important than ones that actually convert.

Ultimately, they end up making the business more about them than about the customer.

#9: Save money by taking on more responsibility.

At the very early startup stage, a business owner has many roles and responsibilities. Good luck, and make sure to get some sleep.

At some point, you’ll see the value in unloading responsibility. Remember that your time is worth money.

It may even help to put a number on your time. Is it worth $200 an hour or more? Always evaluate how much your time away from your business is worth.

When it comes to being the head of your company, invest in people, processes, and products that free up your time to focus on the most important initiatives.

#10: You are not the expert at all facets of your business.

So, you know your business better than anyone else. True. This will always be true when you are the owner.

But are you the expert who must hand down directives for all roles? No, you’re not. In fact, you really suck at some things. For others, you are a passable replacement for an employee.

Always take ownership, always lead, and always direct and steer the company direction. But never forget to replace yourself with other capable people. Then, trust them.

It is not uncommon for even long-standing companies to suffer from stunted growth simply because the owner won’t let go of certain responsibilities.

Conclusion

A business owner can be successful, but there’s no formula for success that works the same for everyone. Creating a profitable business takes time, energy, and money.

To be successful, find out what you’re good at. Then, delegate everything else. This can save you valuable hours, which you can put toward growing your company.

Ready to scale your business? BrandCraft, a growth marketing agency, would love to meet with you. Connect with us today for a complimentary consultation.

The post So, You Want to Be a Business Owner: 10 Things to Note appeared first on BrandCraft.

Google Shopping Ads are a game-changer for e-commerce stores. Unlike standard search campaigns, Shopping Campaigns allow you to show your product listing directly on Google’s shopping search results.

These listings allow searchers to view your products and compare them with competitors without ever leaving the search engine results pages.

The only drawback? The setup and optimization processes for these can be more time-intensive than the standard search counterpart to keep your products competitive and campaigns successful.

To help make everything less of a headache, we’ve put together our top tips for  Google Shopping Campaigns. Our hope is that you’ll use these tips to put your best foot forward and set your campaigns up for success.

Top 5 Tips for Google Shopping Campaigns

If you’re starting a new Google Shopping Campaign, here are five tips to help you out:

Tip #1: Check Google Merchant Center frequently.

Consider Google Merchant Center the home base for all things Google Shopping. Whether it’s free listings for products, connecting your product feed to Google Ads, or creating promotions for listings, the Merchant Center covers it all.

One of the first keys to success in your product listings (which is also essential to show ads) is setting up a product feed with all the necessary information. Include as much information about your product as possible from the get-go to avoid feed warnings and constant errors.

The type of feed you will want to create will depend on your online store, which plugins are available for your platform, and your preferences.

Hot Tip: Google requires two of the following for your feed: brand, MPN, or GTINs. If you do not have MPNs or GTINs because your products are not manufactured but are handmade and custom, add a feed rule to your feed for: Attribute: identifier exists Rule: set to: No.

After your Shopping Ads and product listings are live, frequently check your Google Merchant Center dashboard and diagnostics page for any errors or warnings that Google caught while recrawling your feed.

Not catching an ad error on a top-selling product can quickly impact the Shopping Ads’ performance, making these errors even more essential to find and fix.

Tip #2: Make single product ad groups a priority.

While they seem daunting, taking the time to set up single product ad groups (SPAGs) is worth it. These give you more flexibility in adjusting bids per product, and you can easily exclude products that are not performing.

Here’s how to set up SPAGs:

1. Create a Google Shopping Campaign.
2. Go to Ad Groups, and select: “Create new ad group.”
3. You’ll be directed to Product Groups within the ad group.
   • Add a subdivision to the All Products group. (A + sign will appear to the right of ‘All Products’ when you scroll over it.)
   • Subdivide by Item ID, and select all item variations for the specific product you’re grouping. For example, if you have several listings for color variations, sizes, etc., lump them into one ad group.
   • Place bids. Then, save and continue
   • Make sure to exclude the product group for all other items. If you don’t do this, your ad groups won’t serve the single product purpose, and they’ll compete against one another.
   • Repeat steps 2-3 for all products.
     • Keep your ad groups in the same campaign to start. Once you see your champion products, consider moving them into a separate campaign of their own for even more control over your ad spend.

Tip #3: Check on competitor listings.

Start getting in the habit of checking on your listings and competitors’ listings, even if you’re doing a quick branded search. We’ve found that our performance on Shopping Ads is even more directly influenced by competitor pricing than on standard search.

With the pricing shown on listings, consumers can compare prices, shipping rates, and other offers without ever reaching a website. This can get even trickier when you’re competing against retailers that are selling your product at a more affordable rate or have other promotions going on.

To combat this, try increasing your bid strategy to ensure your listings are showing in the top positions, along with running special promotions, such as “free shipping” or “20% off of a purchase.”

Tip #4: Don’t leave search behind.

It’s easy to forget standard search ads and the impact they have on your digital marketing strategy while running Shopping Campaigns. Do a quick branded product search on Google.

If you notice that competitors are running standard search ads on your branded keyword, consider launching a branded standard search campaign to correspond with your Shopping Ads. Run a low-budget branded search campaign to keep your name in the top results and prevent searchers seeking your products from going elsewhere. (We’re looking at you, Amazon.)

Since you’ll be bidding on your own brand, your cost-per-click and cost-per-acquisition should be low, making this an effective defense strategy. (Have questions about how this works? Get in touch with our digital marketing agency.)

Tip #5: Customize product titles and descriptions. 

Google Shopping Campaigns do not use keyword targeting to place your product in front of the right searchers. Instead, product titles are your bread and butter to getting in search results that are the most relevant for your brand.

Start with keyword research on your product category to find hot topic keywords, along with Google Trends searches, to see which terms are yielding the highest number of consumers. From there, look at opportunities in product titles that align with those keywords.

Ensure that the custom titles are descriptive of the product, and include any branding you want users to see, as this is what they will read when comparing products against the competition.

Wrap-Up

To conclude, here’s a quick overview of our top five Google Shopping Campaign tips:

1. Check Google Merchant Center diagnostics frequently.
2. Make Single Product Ad Groups (SPAGs) a priority.
3. Check on competitors’ listings.
4. Don’t leave standard search campaigns behind completely.
5. Customize product titles and descriptions.

If you’re ready to elevate your Shopping Ads’ performance, BrandCraft is here to help. Contact our e-commerce marketing team  today to help grow your online sales.

The post Top 5 Tips to Make Your Google Shopping Campaigns a Success appeared first on BrandCraft.

And as much as there isn’t a serious cause of concern for using them, there is indeed a problem with using them repeatedly in every situation. These fonts are overused and might not have a sense of uniqueness or a touch of wow-effect on your audience.

Avoid These 10 Overused Fonts : Advice From Our Branding Agency

To help make your work more creative and captivating, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most used fonts and typefaces that you should avoid using as much as possible. Discover the top ten overused fonts our branding agency suggests to avoid.

#1: Comic Sans

Think of party invitations, entertainment, and anything fun; Comic Sans isn’t your professional typeface. This childish font has entirely no room in a professional working environment, apart from a preschool setting. It’s only preferable when handling children’s products. And did you know that there has been a move to ban Comic Sans? Yes, you read that right! That’s how much unwant there is for this font.

Apart from being unprofessional, Comic Sans is one of the most common and undesired fonts that you’d want to stay away from even in dealing with children’s stuff.

#2: Papyrus

With a dull aesthetic appeal, Papyrus often viewed as poor quality and ugly typography. When pointing out overused fonts, Papyrus rightfully deserves to be at the forefront. It’s interesting to note that certain blogs have even emerged to highlight its misuse. All the same, you should avoid using this font at all costs, particularly in the business landscape.

#3: Arial

For many years, Arial was the default font for most Microsoft applications. All thanks to the limelight the Calibri font replaced it in Office 2007. During its prime time, Arial was the go-to font and a preferred alternative to Times New Roman. From publications to websites, this iconic font eventually became a victim of overuse. It is a bygone time for Arial use and a high time to drop it for good in 2021.

#4: Times New Roman

Times New Roman comes from the British newspaper; the Times of London. Having also been a default font in Word for many years, Times New Roman shouldn’t be your go-to sans serif option.

Moreover, due to its usage in the daily newspaper, Times New Roman became a favorite of most printers back in the day. And despite the evolution of most typesetting devices, the once-popular font has remained the same. Nevertheless, as a rule of thumb, you need to stay away from all the defaults, and Times New Roman is no exception.

#5: Helvetica

Helvetica is arguably one of the best typefaces and beautiful sans serif font families. It has widely been used to some good effect by most established businesses like Apple. Consequently, it has turned into a common typeface that no longer drives the creative sense it used to.

Also, Helvetica has, to some extent, legibility concerns, particularly for persons with weak eyesight. Some of its characters are not easily distinguishable, making them hard to read. So yes, Helvetica isn’t only overused but also awful in terms of readability and legibility – it has lost its old disparity.

#6: Impact

Impact is another sans serif typeface that’s universally accepted and overused, mostly in headlines. It wouldn’t take a genius to spot this font in headlines, billboards, posters, and logos. The iconic font is mainly preferred for headlines rather than body texts, perhaps due to its boldness.

However, it is too narrow and thin to grab people’s attention, prompting other high-visibility fonts. Generally, it also falls in the group of overused fonts.

#7: Courier New

Courier, initially designed for typewriters, is another family of fonts that falls on the overused list. Designers and branding agencies avoid this font, primarily due to its improperly measured lettering. Its low resolution also makes it unsuitable for today’s consumers as it portrays an outdated ancient design. There surely exist a dozen alternatives of sans serif fonts to cater for Courier’s illegibility on screens.

#8: Trajan

Loved by Hollywood designers and even illustrators, Trajan has been used in movie posters and other film marketing products. Motivated by Roman architecture, Trajan is one of the most accepted professional fonts that can fit in most official occasions.

While it’s a beautiful font for entertainment and epics, this iconic font is another overused font, mostly in films. Plus, unless the audience calls for it, online content is becoming more and more informal, making it unfavorable for many blogs and sites.

#9: Kristen ITC

If Comic Sans is a rip-off, then ITC Kristen is too. This is another utterly childish script typeface that has no room in the business world. It isn’t practical as it appears in the style of a toddler’s handwriting. Its curved lettering also makes it difficult to space words appealingly. You wouldn’t want your work to be perceived as amateurish or rather unprofessional. The only exception to this font would be children’s products.

#10: Bradley Hand

Based on real handwriting, Bradley Hand is another overused font that has lost the glory it once had. During its heyday, it was used in very many invitations, school notices, and storybooks. And due to its personal touch, it also humanizes the look and feel of the digital text. While it may not be the worst font in the world, there are many better alternatives you can consider.

Conclusion

When handling your next project, stay away from these overused fonts, and most importantly, you should avoid fonts used in Microsoft built-in for your designs. If you want to be taken seriously, you need to take time not to abuse one of these fonts, lest it portrays your brand inappropriately.

The good news is that our branding agency can always help craft a unique and captivating font that’s relevant to your business and industry. If you need any help with branding services, you can reach out to us for a free consultation. We’ll be glad to assist.

The post The Ten Most Overused Fonts Our Branding Agency Suggests to Avoid appeared first on BrandCraft.

Microsoft Ads bring in roughly 5.5 billion users per month. This leaves plenty of opportunities for your campaigns to thrive in that marketplace.

Adding Microsoft Ads to your marketing strategy would allow your company to engage with people who are not using Google as their preferred search engine. Potentially bringing in newer client potential.

Another key benefit of Microsoft Advertising is that there are fewer advertisers using Microsoft Ads. This is due to a smaller user base, which means less competition.

This decrease in competition often results in a lower cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and cost-per-clicks (CPCs). As well as a higher return on ad spend (ROAS) when compared to Google counterparts.

So, should you invest in Microsoft Ads? In this blog, part four of our paid ad platforms series, we’ll explain why that platform is a great option and how you can use it to your advantage.

How Microsoft Ads Work

When you compare Microsoft Ads vs. Google Ads, you’ll find that the two are almost identical. They’re so similar, in fact, that you can directly import your Google AdWords campaign into your Microsoft Ads account to make for a smooth addition or transition.

When you import campaigns from Google into your Microsoft account, make sure to give them a look through to ensure that everything is in place, as some aspects of your campaign can change during the import process, such as:

• Negative Keyword Lists: Double-check that your keywords are still how you’d like them to be, as broad match terms often transfer to phrase match terms in Microsoft.
• Targeting: This platform has a vastly different targeting approach than Google Ads, allowing for more adjustments and specifics at the ad level rather than just at the campaign level. Double-check your targeting, and adjust to the new targeting options.

Make sure to comb through your bids, budgets, ads, keywords, and targeting before making the ad live to ensure that your campaign works as intended. As far as where your ads will show, Microsoft has three search engines (Bing, Yahoo, and AOL), so when you advertise on one platform, your ad is actually visible on all three, similar to Google’s Display Network.

Types of Microsoft Ads

Microsoft has its own network of ads. This allows advertisers to utilize on its search engines. Similar to most paid ads platforms that our advertising agency has covered on this blog series.

• Text Ads: These ads appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) as expanded text, dynamic search, or responsive search ads.
• Product Ads: These ads include product listings to enable e-commerce sellers to showcase their products and pricing to people in the market for similar products.
• Microsoft Audience Ads: Audience Ads are very similar to Google’s Display Ads. They are typically engaging to viewers and appear embedded within web pages that the audience is already viewing, such as a blog.
• App Install Ads: Drive traffic to your app using these ads, which send users to the app store to install your app.
• Microsoft Advertising in Bing Smart Search: Similar to text ads, Smart Search Ads are modernized with a touch experience, and they try to include a preview of the landing page.

Conclusion

Overall, if you have the spare budget, adding Microsoft Ads to your advertising strategy would further enhance your awareness and reach. Not to mention, if you already have Google AdWords set up with your advertising agency, there’s little effort needed to create the Microsoft Ads Campaigns. It’s a win-win.

If you think that Microsoft Ads are right for your marketing strategy, and you’d like to gain a better understanding of what these services can do for your company, contact BrandCraft Marketing today to chat with one of our paid ads experts.

The post Part 4: Should I Invest in Microsoft Ads? appeared first on BrandCraft.