3 Things For September 3rd, 2022
Consistency is boring. Analytics. Momentum.
I contradict myself!
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.” ~ Walt Whitman
This is one of my favorite quotes. Because it is so real about something we don’t actually admit that much. We contradict ourselves. There is so much nuance in life and in being human.
Brands, like humans can be nuanced too. They can surprise us and like an onion, they can have many layers, revealing more and more over time. Life is richer with more layers, more things to discover.
Now, I’m not going to go so far as to say that brands should contradict themselves or that they shouldn’t be consistent. There should definitely be clarity and a clear strategy. In fact, it’s actually when there is this clarity of purpose that the brand’s personality can come to life. Just like a person doesn’t wear the same clothes to the beach as they do to a cocktail party, a brand doesn’t appear in exactly the same way across different platforms. But the sense of style stays true and is persistent.
So go ahead and have a little fun with your brand. When we favor consistency too much, we become boring and no one is sticking around for that!
Are you utilizing Google Analytics on your website?
If not, you should be!
First off let me explain what Google Analytics is, Google Analytics is free web analytics software that provides detailed information about the visitors to your site. This is a great tool to make decisions and adjustments about changes to your site that will maximize its effectiveness.
What type of information does it collect?
It can be customized to collect all sorts of data about users of your site but at its most basic setup it will collect:
1. Time of visit, number of pages visited, and time spent on each page.
2. Type of web browser and operating system used by the visitor.
3. Whether JavaScript is supported, screen resolution, and screen color processing ability.
4. Network location and IP address.
All of this information is valuable and can help direct you towards success online.
How do you set it up?
An analytics account can be established by visiting analytics.google.com/
Once you go through the process you will be provided a code snippet that needs to be added to your website, depending on the platform you are utilizing for your website there are a multitude of ways to add the snippet.
Do you need help?
Strategy 3 uses Google Analytics on all of the sites we build and manage. If you need any assistance with Google Analytics on your website, reach out to us and we will be glad to discuss your needs.
P.S. Also all current Google Analytics accounts need to be converted to Analytics 4 by July 1st, 2023. Strategy 3 can help with this as well!
Digital Momentum Can Be Like Describing Air.
Trying to help clients understand digital momentum is about as clear as trying to explain how air exists and is critical to survival, but impossible to see with the naked eye. Similar to air, sometimes digital online marketing can sound like…
- Do you feel air as it fills your lungs when you inhale? Sort of.
- Are you aware when the air around you changes? Yes, but it’s vague.
- What would happen if you were in a controlled environment and air flow was cut off? We’d suffocate, the “lights” would go out.
- Do you need air, despite not being able to contain it in your hands and look at it? Absolutely!
- As a laymen, can you see it; can you measure it; can you contain it? There’s possibly a way, but for most, it would be almost impossible to quantify.
Before overwhelming you and taking the risk you’ll feel defeated, just know, here at Strategy 3 we are geeked out about these systems and would love nothing more than to come alongside you and your business, so reach out!
There are so many complexities with digital marketing that it really does boil down to “simple science” that isn’t so simple. Although there are many measurable elements, it really does require synchronization, intention, and most importantly… momentum. Let’s shift to another analogy, and take a high-level look.
- Foundation and Starting Point: Is your online presence (seo centric website, browser profiles, promotion platforms, social media, etc.) set up in a thorough, consistent & complete way, or is it fragmented. Are you starting on shifting sand or do you have solid footing? Just like any area, if these are not in place and dialed in, everything else you attempt to do will be fragmented.
- Audience/Judges/inspectors:
Have you clearly defined this? If not, how do you know what the requirements are? In the digital space, if this isn’t dialed in, you can spend A LOT of time on content creation that falls flat. You can have a passive cheering squad, but do they “buy tickets?” Do you know what’s required to be a qualified competitor (Google, FB, etc.)? Do you have things in place to build – and maintain momentum? - Relevance: Hobbies and business are different. Our business typically comes from our passion and we often forget that it can no longer just be about “us.” Once we decide to go into business, the focus must shift to our prospects. What’s in it for them; why should they care; how is our offering – their solution? Is it attractive? When people interact with your brand, does it stop them in their tracks? Does it get them to stop scrolling (literally spinning)? Are they enticed to see more? If this isn’t consistently the case, you can quickly become noise in the background.
- Consistency: The reality is, the digital space is a series of “machines” calculating and adding up points to determine if you’re the winner. If your online presence is fragmented and inconsistent, it assumes you’re not really in the game. There are very specific rhythms that work together to build this point system. Not dialing this in would be like trying to run the first and last lap of a race and expecting to qualify at all.
Circling back to air. We can help, and just like air, instinctively you know it’s working – but measuring it can be complex due to privacy rights and individual tracking settings, etc. You will see a lift; you will gain traction; you will experience growth… but due to the saturation and rhythm of touches, it can be unclear what’s impacting what. This is typically a small business owner’s greatest challenge of acceptance, as it’s difficult justifying a cost if you can’t measure the direct impact. That said, should you stop – or not start at all? We’d suggest, no more than you would stop breathing just because you can’t see or measure air.
Momentum is key, so if you aren’t able to create it because you’re too busy building your business… partner with us and let us create and maintain momentum for you. We’d love to help catapult your business to the next level.
