Over the last 10 years, we have been fortunate enough to help nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and mission-driven businesses tell their stories. Our goal has always been to provide the highest quality of marketing and communications services possible to support our clients’ missions. And as we’ve grown, so have our resources and services. We’re constantly looking for new opportunities and ways to improve in order to stay current and remain effective.
Over the years, we’ve seen the realm of digital marketing and advertising blossom into one of the most exciting and impactful channels for interacting with customers and so, today, we’re delighted to announce the expansion of our digital marketing services.
Building Digital Connections
At its core, marketing is all about connection. A brand has a story to tell or a mission to fulfill and it uses marketing to connect with the people that identify with that story or share in that mission. However, one of the functions of marketing is to not only tell a compelling story, but to get that story in front of the right people.
As marketers, we use particular marketing channels to get in front of people at different stages of their customer journey. Direct mail marketing appears right on your doorstep. Email marketing lands in your inbox in the morning. A billboard catches your eye as you drive home from work. And digital marketing connects with you as you scroll social media or search Google to try to figure out that actor’s name who’s in that movie with Sandra Bullock.
With advancements in mobile technologies and new social networks popping up every week, to the emergence of your brother-in-law’s favorite new buzzword, the metaverse, our lives are existing more and more in the digital world.
In order to help our clients continue to build meaningful connections with their audiences, Bloom has been working to expand our marketing and communication services in the digital realm. From expanded social media marketing avenues to search engine optimization and marketing, we are now offering digital services to help nonprofits, healthcare companies, government organizations, and mission-driven businesses get in front of their audiences digitally.
Search Engine Optimization – Leveraging Google for Good
As marketers, we perform extensive research, interviews, and surveys in order to locate and better understand the people that make up our target audiences. Every day, billions of Google searches are made by individuals looking for everything from Sephora coupons to digital marketing partners. These individuals are actively looking for a specific service or an answer to a specific question and all a brand has to do is intercept that interest.
The most common way that brands accomplish this is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is the active practice of getting in front of those people who are searching for information related to your business or organization and capturing their attention. As we’ve likely all experienced first hand, the websites at the top of the search results page (SERP) get the most attention. How many of us even make it to the second or third pages of Google these days? So ranking #1 is incredibly sought after and competitive.
At Bloom, we’re helping clients to rank higher in Google, so that when someone searches for volunteer opportunities in San Diego, for example, our client’s website is at the top of the list. Our approach is two-fold: one half is heavily focused on content marketing: crafting website copy, landing pages, blogs, and other content that is keyword-rich and addresses audience interests and questions. And the other half is more technical, ensuring that our clients’ websites are fast, well-organized, and structured properly in the backend, making it easier for Google to interpret your content. It doesn’t happen overnight, but a well-rounded SEO strategy is imperative to any organization wishing to compete for the flood of interest flowing through Google every day.
Search Engine Marketing – Jumping the Line
And while ranking #1 in Google is a long game–incredibly competitive and it can take a while to get there organically–there is a way to jump the line, so to speak, through Search Engine Marketing or SEM.
Any brand has the opportunity to pay to be placed at the top of the search results page. The most commonly utilized tool to accomplish this is through Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising via Google Advertising. Google Search Ads, for example, enable brands to write their own search result copy and rank at the top of the results pages for the search terms they deem relevant. This is an incredibly powerful tool for generating quality leads and driving web traffic for websites that wouldn’t otherwise rank very highly in Google.
Google Ads also provide an ability to advertise across other websites using Google Display Ads, as well as on YouTube using YouTube Ads. Imagine you own a chiropractic clinic and one of your audience members Googling for a chiropractor in Houston. The first listing they see is your Google Search Ad promoting your chiropractic services. Another audience member sees your organic listing within the Google Search Results while searching for back pain solutions. Another audience member reads an article about stretching when they are presented with visual ads promoting your practice. They play a YouTube video on that site and an ad for your practice plays.
That’s the power of Search Engine Marketing—and it’s a benefit that comes with our approach to multi-channel digital strategies, complemented by our in-house creative services which are able to provide our clients with thoughtful, compelling, and effective Google Display Ads and YouTube Ads.
Social Media Marketing – Seeds for Community Building
By now, certainly everyone reading this has engaged with social media in some capacity. It has completely changed not only how we communicate with each other, but how brands do business. Growing an organic social media following can be one of the most effective ways to build a loyal community and customer base. But, in part due to the sheer vastness of social media, sometimes it can be difficult to attract followers and get eyes on the great content you’re posting.
Fortunately, there are tools available to us to help seek out audiences on these powerful platforms and get in front of them. Almost every social media outlet offers brands a myriad of opportunities to advertise, allowing them to connect with their audience(s) outside of a traditional organic strategy. From Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads to LinkedIn Ads and even Pinterest Ads and Twitter Ads, there is a platform suited for any brand and any marketing objective. B2B companies looking for leads and to fill open positions will likely find success running ads on LinkedIn, targeting other businesses and applicants looking for jobs in their area. A nonprofit looking for donations might find more success advertising on Facebook, targeting interest-based audiences, and collecting donations directly through the platform.
At Bloom, we perform extensive research to help determine which social media platforms and strategies make sense for our clients. Our years of experience with social media management and building communities at Bloom are now being applied to our social media advertising strategies as we continue to help clients find the people that connect most with their missions.
Putting It All Together
As we mentioned earlier, marketing is all about that connection. A comprehensive, multi-channel marketing and communications strategy is one that explores your audience’s journey and attempts to connect with them at every opportunity. From traditional marketing services to public relations, and now enhanced digital marketing, Bloom has the experience, tools, and techniques to help clients communicate with their audiences better than ever before.
Chat with us to learn more about incorporating a digital marketing strategy into your communications plan.