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Jennifer Esty

Sharp Ahead Receives Platinum Certification in SharpSpring Partner Certification Program

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We’re super excited to announce that Sharp Ahead have achieved platinum-level certification in SharpSpring’s partner certification program!

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Through this program, SharpSpring, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHSP), a global provider of cloud-based marketing and email software solutions, empowers its partners to become experts in marketing automation and rewards top performers with referrals, certification badges and additional resources.

Graphical Demonstration of Marketing Automation with SharpSpring Platinum Certification

Sharp Ahead met all of the requirements within the platinum tier of the certification program, demonstrating an exceptional level of expertise in marketing automation and the SharpSpring platform. With this certification, Sharp Ahead is more equipped to help clients drive qualified leads, convert more of those leads to sales, and optimize the ROI of their marketing campaigns.

“Agencies that are leaders in marketing automation are also far more likely to become leaders in the digital marketing industry,” said Rick Carlson, CEO of SharpSpring. “When a partner goes the extra mile to obtain this level of certification, we know they truly understand the value of marketing automation and that they’re committed to driving the highest results for their clients.”

“We’re very proud of the Sharp Ahead team for achieving such a significant designation. At Sharp Ahead, we aim to provide our clients with the highest level of service and expertise. Obtaining Platinum Certification from SharpSpring is a clear reflection of our approach”, says Jennifer Esty, Director of Sharp Ahead.

Find out more about our marketing automation services or get in touch to request a SharpSpring demo.

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    Digital Spring Clean – 3 Quick Tips

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    Spruce up your digital marketing and stay top of mind with your customers. This past weekend marked the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, so we thought we’d give you a few quick tips for your digital spring clean.

     

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    1. Tidy up your SERP (search engine results page)

    Sharp Ahead Google Search Results

    This is a key part of the experience for your prospects, customers and other important stakeholders interacting with your business and if you haven’t Googled your brand name in a while, now is as good a time as any.

    Here’s how to check your SERP the right way. 

    First, use an incognito window so you’re not biasing what you see based on previous search behaviour. Then check for these signals:

    • Are you in the top position (P1)?
    • Is anyone running an ad on your brand name?
    • Is your Google My Business / Knowledge Panel listing up to date with accurate contact details (phone, website, opening hours etc.)?
    • How are your reviews looking? Are there any that you could respond to? These are people in close contact with your business and they deserve your attention.

    What if things are looking a bit dusty?

    This is your shop window – if it looks unloved, you’ll be losing out to other businesses. Run a brand ad. It might seem wasteful to bid on your own brand names, but for most B2B companies, those searches are relatively low volume but very high value. Plus, those ads will keep the competitors out of your P1 spot, enable you to curate and quickly update your SERP and align it with your current campaigns and brand messaging.

    Pro tip: for most B2B companies, applying a few negative keywords, for example around jobs and careers, can keep costs down and focus the campaigns on your key prospects.

    2. Refresh your website (inside and out)

    Sharp Ahead Header Contact Info

    44% of B2B marketers say the main reason they abandon websites is that there’s no contact info immediately visible*. Unless you are selling something that can be purchased on your website, your prospects will need to speak to someone in your sales team at some point.

    Make it easy for visitors to choose you with a quick look at the following:

    • Make your phone number clearly visible – Make it easy for visitors by clearly displaying your phone number or at least an email address in the header of your site. Or go one better and enable live chat on your site like 11 out of the 50 fastest growing B2B companies**!
    • Does your copyright notice still say 2020?? It’s March already and I’m still finding websites without an updated copyright notice footer. With the upheaval of the last year, if your website doesn’t have signs of recent activity, prospects could be forgiven for thinking you might not be around anymore. Update that copyright, refresh your COVID-19 message, and make sure you have a recent blog or news story prominently displayed. These are all important signals to your customers that you’re open for business and ready to help them.
    • Get the LinkedIn insight tag, the new Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tag and Google Tag Manager (GTM) in place – These tags each have a role to play in best practice digital marketing and if you’re not using them, you’re missing out on key insights, future analytics and easy tag management. These are all ways to learn more about your customers and how to delight them on your next interaction.

    3. Welcome new visitors (and then look after them)

    We're Open Sign

    You’ve done the hard work by getting someone who doesn’t know you to choose your website. Whether the onsite experience is perfect or not, you now have a chance to be remembered and convince your prospects that your business is the right choice for them.

    One of the easiest ways to be remembered is with remarketing campaigns: even if you’re not using paid search or social for lead generation, you should run remarketing ads. 

    Consideration cycles for high end B2B products and services usually take months, or longer, and remarketing is the most efficient way to keep in touch with those decision makers during that time. Remind them of your brand, tell them something they might not know about your business and show them why you’re the right choice. 

    Pro tip: Don’t wait a year to refresh the creative and mix it up with different ad formats.

    What next? - The BIG clean!

    If you’re looking to go a bit deeper, here are three things that are vital to digital marketing success in the coming year.

    Say goodbye to Broad Match Modifier

    We discussed this in a blog article back in February but if you haven’t had time to sort out your match types, you could be wasting valuable media spend. In short, Google is combining two existing match types, phrase match and broad match modifier. This means that with nuanced search terms that are standard fare for B2B search marketers, it would be very easy to bring in a lot of irrelevant clicks and quickly reduce the ROI on your campaigns. Read our top tips for sorting this out as soon as possible!

    Core Web Vitals

    This was another new development from Google that we flagged back in 2020 but the deadline is approaching faster than most digital marketers would like. If your site doesn’t meet Google’s criteria, or you don’t have a plan in place to make sure it will, you’ll need to think now about making a reasonable investment in speeding up your site—or risk losing valuable search rankings to better prepared competitors. If this is the first you’ve heard of CWV, read our previous blog article and then get yourself over to Google Tools for measure them!

    Mystery Shopping

    And last on our list of big cleans, a plea to B2B marketers everywhere. Check that your customer and prospect contact channels work. Does someone answer your phone during business hours? How quickly do you respond to lead enquiries? Is your online chat staffed consistently? I know what you’re thinking, this is ridiculous of course the answer is yes. But when was the last time you checked? Do some mystery shopping and find out for yourself. In the high end B2B market, one missed phone call or a few days’ delay on replying to a form fill, could be the difference between a successful or failed campaign.

    *https://komarketing.com/files/b2b-web-usability-report-2015.pdf

    **https://www.drift.com/blog/fastest-growing-b2b-companies-report/

    We work with intelligent marketing managers to make budgets go further and cut your cost per lead.

    If you have any questions on your own digital spring clean, get in touch for a free 30-minute B2B consult.

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      Merry Christmas from Sharp Ahead

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      This Christmas we're supporting a cause that's close to our hearts

      At this time of year, you’d usually find us writing cards and wrapping gifts to send to our wonderful clients (alongside working hard to finish the year on a high).

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      But with this year being anything but usual, and with most teams still working from home, we’ve decided to do something a little different.

      In lieu of cards and gift, this year we will be making a donation to a charity close to our hearts.

      We have chosen to donate to the British Heart Foundation in memory of Rob Stevens, a Sharp Ahead founder, who sadly passed away this year from coronary heart disease.

      Thank you to all our clients for a brilliant year. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year!

      Sharp Ahead this Christmas We are Supporting a Cause Close to Our Hearts

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        Google confirms timing for bringing page experience to Google Search

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        On Tuesday Google confirmed that page experience signals in ranking will roll out in May 2021.

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        Setting New Standards

        The news follows the May 2020 announcement of a new set of standards for measuring “page experience”. That is, whether a particular web page delivers its content in a way that gives a positive experience for the user.

        The new signals will combine Core Web Vitals with existing search signals, including: mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines.

        What does this mean for you as a website owner?

        If you have started already, you need to ensure that your site, and landing pages, meet the new standards or risk seeing your search engine results penalised for poor performance (and higher performing competitors given a boost).

        Fortunately Google has put in place clear guidelines for how they will measure page experience. And they have provided a suite of tools to help site owners identify and fix issues.

        Search Console: use the report for Core Web Vitals for an overview of how your site is doing and a details into any issues.

        Page Speed Insights: get your CWV score and suggestions on where to make improvements (also helpful for ongoing testing as you make changes to your site)

        For the full suite of Google tools, visit Google’s Tools to measure Core Web Vitals.

        For more detailed information, check out our previous blog post on the announcement back in May.

        If you’d like help understanding the impact of page experience on your B2B digital marketing strategy, or with any other aspect of B2B digital marketing, contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.

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          Revising your marketing plan in a time of uncertainty? 5 best practice tips for digital excellence

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          Before you change your plans, read our 5 best practice tips for digital marketing excellence in this time of uncertainty.

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          LinkedIn

          The social networking behemoth is now even more important for staying in touch with customers and prospects. Take the time to audit your Company Page and personal profiles of key colleagues. Make sure they are updated with relevant messaging, polished branding, and clear signals that you’re ready to connect and interact online.

          Now is definitely the time to develop a rich content strategy and a team of online influencers to reach prospects in the absence of offline activity.

          PPC

          If you’re looking to reallocate marketing funds, PPC is almost certainly a good investment right now. Focus on intent-based, high value keywords and best practice basics like brand ads and remarketing campaigns.

          Whilst search volumes for many B2B products and services may decrease for a period of time, being found for those searches is even more critical now and you will stand out even more (and pay less) if competitors have made the ill-advised decision to turn off all PPC advertising.

          Read our blog on Managing PPC in the emerging Coronavirus situation for more tips.

          Google My Business

          If your business has changed or reduced opening hours, make sure you update your Google My Business (GMB) listing to let customers and prospects know.

          GMB has also introduced a “temporarily closed” status if you have physical shops or offices that you wish to mark closed during the lockdown.

          Similarly, if your main contact numbers have changed, updating them on your listing is vitally important.

          Analytics

          With so many of your customers and prospects working from home, your IP tracking software probably isn’t offering you a lot of help right now.

          However, the LinkedIn Insight can give you rich insights into who is interacting with your website and landing pages, and gives you an opportunity to create remarketing lists for LinkedIn campaigns. If you don’t have it already, the tag is easy to create and deploy.

          Website

          Including a business continuity message on your site will give customers and prospects reassurance that you are open for business—or can set their expectations on response times or any changes in the services you can provide.

          Also, with traffic likely to be lower and overall activity reduced, now might be just the time to make those important changes or updates to your site. You’ll lower any risks during deployment and are likely to have more time to focus on strategic improvements, better content and increased conversion—all ready to provide a best practice customer experience when it’s business as usual again.

          Need more help?

          If you need any help with your digital strategy, Sharp Ahead are offering a free 30-minute consultation to qualified B2B companies. You can book one online today.

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