Solo and Small Firm Marketing

Real tested advice. Explained so you can understand.

All posts by Bryan Mixon

Best Google AdWords Advertising Agencies

If you are interested in online advertising, it pays to understand and consider Google AdWords. Google earned over $95 billion (approximately 86% of their revenue) from advertising last year because their pay-per-click (PPC) advertising model is highly effective. Whether you are an entrepreneur who’s just starting or have millions to spend on advertising each month, you need to have AdWords on your radar.

If you’re already proficient at online advertising and promotion, you may be able to learn AdWords on your own or hire a suitable employee. Some people run their paid search strategy in-house.

But most business owners and managers already have their hands full with running a successful business, and the complexity and long learning curve of AdWords are obstacles to successful PPC campaigns.

Big and small businesses often choose to hire a professional agency to assist with implementing and running an AdWords campaign. Hiring or training one employee may be less cost-effective than going outside your company.

A PPC agency that specializes in Google AdWords can provide you with valuable advice, devise short- and long-term strategies, and save you time and money navigating the world of pay-per-click advertising.

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Best Facebook Advertising Agencies
Best Instagram Advertising Agencies
Best Twitter Advertising Agencies
Best Snapchat Advertising Agencies
Best Google Ads Advertising Agencies
Best YouTube Advertising Agencies
Best Amazon Marketing Agencies
Best Mobile Advertising Agencies

Unfortunately, when it comes to choosing an agency to assist with AdWords, beginners may find it difficult to select the right agency – or even to understand what the differences are between one PPC agency and another. There are hundreds of agencies out there, but unless you know a thing or two about AdWords, it’s hard to choose the right one.

I’ve put this guide together to make your life easier. I’ve compiled the most important facts to consider when choosing an AdWords agency, so you can learn the basics without putting in hours of research. I’ve also combed websites and read hundreds of reviews of different providers to bring you the best of the best in the world of AdWords agencies.

What You Need to Know About Google AdWords

Before you hire an agency, you need to understand some of the basics of Google AdWords. The whole point of hiring an agency is for you to focus on the things you’re good at, but without a basic understanding of AdWords, you won’t be able to find the right agency for your business.

Hire an Agency Experienced in Your Industry

You may encounter dozens or hundreds of different AdWords agencies as you search for the perfect match. Here’s a simple test to narrow that number down: does a given agency have experience in your industry? If so, they’ll know norms and benchmarks like typical cost per click (CPC) and return on investment (ROI) for your specific niche.

You don’t need someone with direct experience in your precise area of focus; experience in a similar area works, too. For example, if you sell and install vinyl siding, an AdWords agency that’s worked with a roofing contractor would probably be a good match.

Before you hire an agency, be sure to check if they’re more experienced with sales as a service (SaaS), lead generation, or e-commerce. Even if the agency is the best in the world at lead generation, if you need PPC management for an e-commerce business, you may need to look elsewhere.

AdWords Certified and Google Partners

At a minimum, you want a firm that’s AdWords certified and part of the Google Partners program. That isn’t the only relevant criterion in selecting a provider; it’s a relatively low bar, so anyone who doesn’t have these credentials should be ruled out automatically.

Any agency that’s AdWords certified has passed certification exams and must maintain a minimum monthly AdWords expenditure of $10,000. If an agency has this certification, you can know they have some level of competence. Google Partners get inside tips from Google as well as beta-testing opportunities, both of which can provide your business with a competitive edge.

Hire a Multidisciplinary or Networked Agency

For best results, you need to hire an agency with a multidisciplinary team, or one that has established connections with other high-powered specialists. Pay-per-click (PPC) is a huge part of advertising for many businesses, but it’s not a standalone proposition.

If you hire a PPC specialist, you’re also going to need to track conversions, design a landing page, probably engage in email marketing or e-commerce design, and the list goes on.

If you hire a multidisciplinary agency, you’ll save money through sheer efficiency as opposed to hiring multiple contractors. If you don’t, you’ll face some of the same downsides you would have faced going with the do-it-yourself approach: juggling vendors and trying to coordinate the AdWords project when you’d prefer to be managing other facets of your business.

Different Agencies Have Different Pricing Models

The PPC advertising industry has multiple pricing models that will determine how an agency gets paid. Here are the most popular models:

Hourly
Percentage of ad spend
Performance-based
Milestone-based

Hourly is the most common pricing model, and also the most straightforward. It’s easy to understand what you’re paying, and therefore the hourly pricing model is attractive to small businesses with low budgets who are interested in keeping PPC advertising costs manageable.

Percentage of ad spend is the second-most common pricing model among AdWords agencies. With percentage of ad spend, you will typically pay the agency between 15-30% of your total PPC expenditure.

Percentage of ad spend is an excellent choice if you want to stick with a set budget, and let the agency take care of the rest. If your business is large or if you have plans to scale, you can get better deals with percentage of ad spend.

Performance-based pricing is similar to a sales commission for the agency. They get paid based on a predetermined performance metric like impressions, clicks, conversions, or revenue from ads.

The best part about performance-based pricing is that you know the agency will work hard to give you results. Some agencies combine performance-based pricing with a base rate or minimum rate per month.

Milestone-based pricing is similar to performance-based pricing, but it is based on agreed-upon medium- and long-term goals. Companies that offer milestone-based pricing will typically require longer-term contracts and have a detailed approach to onboarding you and understanding your company’s needs.

Is There a Contract?

Some AdWords agencies require contracts, and others don’t. This decision is best left to your gut instinct and personal preference. If you own a small business and want to test the waters of AdWords advertising, you may be more comfortable with a month-to-month commitment. That way, the agency has to earn your repeat business each month.

Not all contracts are created equal. If you get involved with a contract-based agency, make sure the arrangement suits your needs. If you know you want to commit to PPC advertising, you may be attracted to performance-based or milestone-based pricing with a detailed long-term contract that benefits both parties.

Ad Rank = Quality Score x CPC Bid

“Pay per click” sounds simple and easy, but there is more to running an AdWords campaign than just paying for clicks or conversions! Google computes your actual ad rank from the CPC (cost per click) bid and Quality Score.

For AdWords, you want the highest possible ad ranking and the lowest possible cost per click bid (CPC bid). That means you need a high “Quality Score.” The Quality Score is Google’s hidden metric that takes into account your click-through rate per 1000 impressions or views, time spent on page by customers, and more.

A good AdWords agency can help you with all of this, meaning you can save money buying clicks if you hire a professional rather than do it yourself.

Don’t Neglect Organic SEO

According to Clutch’s 2018 Small Business survey, 45% of small businesses invest in pay-per-click advertising. Of those that do invest in PPC, 90% also use organic search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

You will get a better return on investment (ROI) by spending your advertising money on PPC and SEO together, and even coordinating your strategies (for example, applying lessons learned from PPC campaigns to your SEO approach).

PPC is an excellent choice for short-term return and a wise way to direct your growing revenue to accelerate growth further, while organic SEO is an essential long-term strategy if you want to become an online leader in your industry.

Track ROI

Any good AdWords agency will track all sorts of variables for you like cumulative ad spend, quality score, conversions, impressions, and cost per click. But you must not neglect the most important outcome of all: return on investment!

If you are getting a positive ROI, you can learn from your success to get even more revenue. If you aren’t getting a positive ROI, it’s important to know so you can stop wasting money and fix the problems.

To track your ROI, you need to keep a record of every single cent you put into AdWords and PPC advertising, including costs other than ad spend. You also need to use tools that allow you to see data like cumulative sales from advertising leads or e-commerce clicks, or ensure that the agents you’re working with show you that data.

Some agencies will help you track ROI, but you need to discuss this up front.

Top FIVE Best Google AdWords Advertising Agencies

Here are our top five picks, narrowed down from thousands of listings and hundreds of user reviews.

#1 Disruptive Advertising

Founded in 2011, Disruptive Advertising is an industry leader in PPC advertising and Google AdWords. They are industry pioneers in A/B testing, scaling, geo-targeting, and other revenue-building tweaks that can improve your ROI. Disruptive is known for working with businesses of all sizes, from nationally-known retailers to companies with relatively low monthly advertising budgets.

Ryan A. says he appreciates Disruptive Advertising’s proven systems and the way everyone he’s worked with has been on the same page. Since he switched to Disruptive a few months ago, his sales are at record highs, and his overall costs – including the agency fee – have come down. He says he cringes when he sees the missed opportunity in not beginning work with Disruptive sooner.

Some clients reported that their account was repeatedly moved from one client manager to another as Disruptive was recently reorganizing, but Disruptive has since resolved this situation. They deserve their reputation as perfectionists.

#2 Ignite Visibility

Ignite Visibility is an online marketing agency based in San Diego, CA, founded in 2012. They specialize in pay-per-click, website design, web development, social media marketing, and viral marketing.

One of Ignite Visibility’s clients, the Chief Marketing Officer for a boutique cosmetic company, says that the agency helped the company meet its goal of sales conversions. Ignite visibility used a strategy that combined PPC digital marketing, content creation, social media, and organic SEO. The client was particularly happy with the high-quality reports that Ignite generated throughout the campaign.

Ignite’s main selling points are their versatility, excellent communication, and reporting.

#3 AdVenture Media

AdVenture media belongs to a small and exclusive group of Premier Google Partner agencies. They were awarded that credential because they have produced outstanding results for their clients. AdVenture is 90% PPC-focused, and as one of New York city’s fastest-growing PPC ad agencies, they currently manage over $50 million in advertising budgets.

The director of marketing for a medical oxygen group reports that under the management of AdVenture, the company’s ad spend has decreased while the number of leads has stayed constant. He says their clear communication, quality deliverables, and excellent results justify the investment.

AdVenture’s online marketing educational content has reached over 900,000 students and is worth checking out if you want to learn more about digital advertising.

#4 Loud Mouth Media

Loud Mouth Media is a top-ranked pay-per-click agency in the UK and is also a Premier Google Partner agency. They have offices in Belfast, Dublin, and Glasgow. The agency provides a fully-managed digital marketing service that is 70% focused on PPC. They earned awards for “Best Small PPC Agency in the UK” two years in a row at the 2017 and 2018 UK Search Awards.

An online clothing store manager who approached Loud Mouth with a limited budget says business is growing and website traffic is on the rise. She says Loud Mouth Media went above and beyond to accomplish all goals, and is a reliable partner.

Loud Mouth is a good choice for an all-in-one solution if you want to combine your PPC strategy and organic SEO, as I recommended earlier.

#5 CPC Strategy

The appropriately-named CPC Strategy agency is 100% focused on providing pay-per-click services. In particular, they focus on e-commerce and PPC for various retail channels.

The owner of a retailer specializing in cooling products says that CPC Strategy has increased the number of customers and revenue per customer, and is an excellent deal.

They excel in responsiveness and are always available, providing answers to his important questions immediately. He appreciates their transparency of operations and extensive experience.

CPC Strategy is our top pick for a Google AdWords agency if you run an e-commerce business.

Wrapping Up

Whether you’re an entrepreneur running a brand-new startup or the CEO of a high-revenue established company, you can benefit from hiring the right AdWords agency to handle PPC advertising for you.

Look for a multidisciplinary agency with specific experience in your niche. Consider what pricing model best suits you, and whether or not you’d like to enter into a contract. Be sure to track your return on investment so you can be confident your dollars are being put to work properly.

If you haven’t already settled on an AdWords agency check out our top pick, Disruptive Marketing. They have the perfect blend of experience, innovation, reliability, and scalability to work well for almost any size or type of online business.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Best YouTube Marketing Agencies

YouTube advertising is one of the best mediums for companies and brands to reach millions or hundreds of millions of potential customers. It’s cheaper and more engaging than TV or radio advertising, and unlike traditional mediums, YouTube advertising works with the fastest-growing market segment of media consumption: mobile devices.

According to a recent study by Ipsos, viewers only pay attention to 45% of TV advertising, but they pay attention to 83% of YouTube mobile advertising. That’s nearly double the bang for your buck, and YouTube is cheaper for you, the advertiser, than TV.

YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines, second only to Google itself. YouTube has over a billion unique users, with a billion hours of video watched every day, and a hundred hours of videos uploaded every minute. That’s more users and view time than either Facebook videos or Netflix.

Unfortunately, other than the occasional self-made “YouTube celebrity,” very few regular people can figure out how to advertise or gain popularity on YouTube all by themselves.

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If you already spend your time running a successful business or company and want to harness YouTube to increase your growth or improve your revenue, you need to consider outsourcing the task to experienced professionals.

Here’s what goes into running a successful YouTube campaign:

Devising a strategy based on objectives that make sense for your business
Creating high-quality content consistently
Staying engaged with subscribers and commenters
Search engine optimization of your channel and videos for the YouTube search engine
Measuring key performance indicators (KPI) to gauge the success of your efforts

Running a YouTube campaign can mean juggling a lot of different tasks to ensure you achieve the desired outcomes. That’s why going with an agency makes the most sense for an established business.

But with hundreds of different agencies all claiming to be the best, it can be difficult for anyone inexperienced with YouTube to choose the right agency to manage their digital marketing

I’ve created a list of the top YouTube advertising agencies in the world, so you can delegate your YouTube ad campaign to them and focus on running your business as it grows. This guide’s purpose is to give you precisely the right information you need to understand YouTube advertising, so you can run a highly effective campaign without wasting time or money.

What You Need to Know About YouTube Ad Agencies

Here’s what you need to know about how YouTube video advertising and digital marketing work, and what an agency can do for your business.

Defining Objectives and Discussing Strategy

Before you begin looking for a YouTube advertising agency, it pays to consider objectives for your business. When you do choose an agency, you’ll spend time together devising a strategy based on goals you’d like to achieve for your business.

You should also consider your objectives first because it will help you choose the right agency. Different agencies have different strengths. Here are some examples of objectives or goals that businesses can achieve through YouTube marketing:

Improve brand awareness by getting new subscribers
Boost site traffic
Increase user engagement
Launch a new product
Promote your existing videos
Boost brand awareness
Increase online sales or revenue

Getting clear on your objectives is the essential step in devising a strategy together with the agency you choose. A good digital marketing firm can help you come up with goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant, as well as determine a date by which to achieve them.

Budgeting and Keeping Costs Down

As a business owner or director of marketing, you possess the ability to define a budget for your YouTube advertising campaign. Because agencies vary in their budgetary requirements to work with companies, you must determine your total budget (per month, quarter, or annum) before you peruse agencies to hire.

Once you choose a company that matches your budget, you need to discuss with them whether your objectives are realistic while staying within your budget. An agency can help you revise your objectives or timeline, if necessary, based on your budget.

Some agencies also offer contracts that “lock in” rates and other billing conditions, such as outcomes based on key performance indicators (KPIs), over a set period of time.

Channel Activity vs. TrueView vs. Bumper Ads

YouTube offers advertisers three main avenues for promoting their brand. Channel activity refers to the traditional strategy of creating a channel, posting videos, and gaining a following.

TrueView ads play before videos or are displayed within search results, and allow users to choose whether to watch or skip. Bumper ads are six-second ads that play before other videos and cannot be skipped.

Starting and maintaining a YouTube channel is the old-school YouTube strategy for reaching customers and followers, and it still works. Unlike the other options, though, making your channel popular takes time.

A TrueView campaign is a quicker way to get results from YouTube. TrueView bills based on cost-per-view (CPV), so if a user skips or doesn’t click your ad, you don’t get billed within the TrueView model.

YouTube bills advertisers for the shorter six-second bumper ads by CPM (cost per thousand impressions). It’s best to use bumper ads as an add-on option to boost the reach of your primary campaign tactics.

You don’t need to choose just one tactic for YouTube promotion. A professional agency can help you decide how to combine tactics and how best to allocate your budget and other resources.

Channel and Video SEO

YouTube assesses several critical factors to assign your channel and videos search result rankings. A digital advertising agency will help you determine, measure, analyze, and revise these variables to promote your YouTube content.

Keywords are topics people search for; by including keywords relevant to your target audience in all video titles and descriptions, you can achieve a massive uptick in YouTube traffic. Tags are similar to keywords but are visible to users.

YouTube allows users to explore channels based on tags, so you should use tags that other channels similar to yours use, including competitors’ channels.

The concept of “quality” is ambiguous but important in YouTube optimization and other SEO endeavors. Google and YouTube determine the quality of your YouTube channel and videos by likes, shares, time users spend watching, favorites, subscribers, and other metrics. Branding, consistency, and user engagement are the best ways to boost the quality of your channel and videos.

Off-site SEO is an important but often-overlooked aspect of successful YouTube campaigns. An agency can help you with off-site SEO, like using AdWords to drive traffic to your YouTube channel.

Staying Engaged

User engagement is a great way you or your agency of choice can increase the visibility of your YouTube videos. Here are the most important steps to maintain a high level of user engagement:

Moderate comments and decide what to publish, and when
Respond to negative comments
Ensure replies showcase the tone, level of expertise, and branding you want to associate with your company
Subscribe to notifications about your brand name on YouTube to keep track of mentions

Achieving the right kind of engagement boosts your visibility and credibility, which translates to loyal subscribers who have a relationship to your brand.

Top FIVE YouTube Advertising Agencies

Now that you the ins and outs of YouTube advertising, you will be in a better position to choose an agency to coordinate your next advertising campaign. After looking at hundreds of websites and thousands of reviews, I’ve written this section to save you hours of combing through agencies.

#1 DMA Digital Marketing Agency

Our top pick for best YouTube advertising agency is DMA Digital Marketing Agency. Founded in 2002 in Chicago, this legendary agency has behemoth clients like Jet.com, TripAdvisor.com, Williams Sonoma, and Avvo.com. If you’re a more prominent firm looking for a high-value agency to take care of your YouTube needs, you can’t go wrong with DMA.

They are known for stellar YouTube marketing results, and they also offer traditional SEO, PPC management, social media marketing, and reputation management.

Pamela D. promoted her new website through Digital Marketing Agency’s YouTube campaign services. The campaign had a measurable positive impact on her sales, reported to her by DMA, and increased their team’s confidence to push themselves. Pamela says her team is revitalized and “no longer stuck in the 1990s.”

Digital Marketing Agency has the perfect blend of tailored solutions and strategy, best practices and innovations, and transparent communication with clients. All of that translates to a high return on investment (ROI) and return on ad spend (RoAS).

#2 Sparx IT Solutions

Sparx IT Solutions is a leading marketing firm based in India. Their objective is to provide the best possible services and improve your overall growth while keeping the lowest prices in a cut-throat market.

In addition to YouTube advertising, they also assist clients with branding and identity services, web and UI design, web development, mobile app development, e-commerce portals, and online marketing.

As a business owner Tiffany R. says she’s smart enough to know when to delegate, but she was having trouble deciding to whom to delegate a task outside her comfort zone: video marketing and promotion. She chose Sparx IT Solutions to help catapult her brand, Pilates Mastery, and she is a satisfied customer – she says it’s a “total no-brainer” to collaborate with Sparx.

Unlike most American, UK, and European agencies, Sparx IT Solutions runs promotions with discount coupons regularly. Check their site around holidays and other special dates for significant discounts.

#3 Passion Digital

Passion Digital is a London-based firm founded in 2012 that was selected as a UK Agency 2018 award finalist. As a full-service digital marketing agency, Passion has a strong focus on YouTube and video advertising.

Their other services include conversion, pay per click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, social media marketing (SMM), and web design and development, and influencer marketing.

After working with Passion, Ayla V. says they are “the best digital company to trust my business with.” Alya shares that Passion Digital helped her obtain immediate, positive, and lasting results on various digital platforms thanks to their thoughtful and systematic planning and execution.

Passion Digital’s focus is on talent and relationships. They hire, retain, and nurture some of the most talented and creative minds in the digital marketing space while cultivating relationships with ambitious clients to deliver business-changing results.

#4 Factor One

Factor One is a digital marketing agency located in Calgary Alberta. Their focus is on paid search marketing on the Google platform including, YouTube, Adwords, Remarketing, Mobile, and Display. Factor one is a certified Google Partner agency.

Factor One specializes in offering online marketing solutions to businesses in need of more leads and sales. Their marketing professionals embed on the teams of client companies, working as an outsourced team member. Factor One is trained and certified as a Google Partner and stays on top of industry trends and new beta-testing opportunities.

If you have a retail business, this agency can grow your customer base by invigorating your online presence, driving web sales and increasing in-store sales. They also offer service-based clients more leads, and conversion tracking. Factor One analyzes web traffic, measures Return on Ad Spend (RoAS), and defines and targets the best audience to up the number of actions taken on website visits or phone calls.

Factor One are experts in video advertising, paid search traffic, search engine optimization, website development, and online review management

#5 Vireo Video

Vireo Video is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based full-service video marketing firm. Staffed by YouTube Certified Experts, Vireo assists their clients with social media marketing and video advertising on Google display networks (including YouTube), as well as Facebook.

Vireo strategizes together with clients for long-term success, then runs an initial pilot campaign before shifting to campaign maintenance which includes A/B ad testing, overhauls of copy and targeting, and utilization of new strategies and tools as YouTube releases them.

Lucas R., CEO of Macinhome consulting, says it was his absolute pleasure to hire Vireo. According to Lucas, with help from Vireo, he “had an unprecedented 500% growth in followers on our YouTube page! They also produced four short social media style videos that [his] audience loved and engaged with.” He recommends Vireo “to all types of businesses.”

If you need help devising and implementing an extensive long-term video advertising campaign on YouTube, Vireo is a perfect choice for that type of work. If you aren’t quite ready to dive in fully, Vireo also offers consultations and educational resources to help you figure out things like what video equipment to purchase, and what to say on camera.

Wrapping Up

With a third of internet users watching YouTube regularly, advertisers are flocking to the platform as a better choice than traditional media like TV or radio. Once you decide to move forward with YouTube advertising, the next thing to do is choose an agency so you can delegate the creation and management of YouTube videos or ads to a trustworthy professional.

As you choose between agencies, remember to consider the most important factors: your budget, your objectives, and whether an agency can devise a strategy that meets your goals while staying within your budget.

If you are a large and successful company with a generous budget, looking for an agency that will deliver high-value results, DMA Digital Marketing agency is your best bet.

If you are up-and-coming or run a small business with limited funds, you should consider Sparx IT Solutions. Sparx is based in India and runs regular discounts; they are the most budget-friendly choice among top YouTube agencies, but they deliver extraordinary results.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Best Snapchat Marketing Agencies

Best Snapchat Advertising Agency

Snapchat, founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, is known as a young person’s app. Why should you take this app seriously if you’re a business owner? Last quarter, Snapchat brought in $298 million in revenue. Snapchat currently has about 186 million daily active users. Snapchat earns about $1.60 per quarter in revenue per daily active user.

Like other free social media companies, Snapchat earns revenue by advertising to its user base. The average Snapchat users opens the app over twenty times per day, and spends about thirty minutes on the app. The daily average of total Snaps created by users is around 3 billion.

As users spend more time on computers and mobile devices each year, companies are spending more money on digital advertising. According to a recent report by MAGNA, online advertising sales now account for 51.5% of all U.S. advertising sales. Digital advertising allows companies to obtain better data on return on investment (ROI), and precise demographic targeting.

If you are a business owner over the age of 34, chances are you do not personally use Snapchat. But that’s no excuse for dismissing or not understanding the app. 85% of Snapchat’s users are between the ages of 18-34, with just 15% over the age of 34. On a given day, Snapchat reaches 41% of 18-34-year-olds in the United States.

Plenty of Snapchat users are age 25 or older, meaning they have real purchasing power. Snap’s fastest-growing demographic is 25 and up, with more than 50% of Snapchat’s new daily users coming from this group.

If you’ve never used Snapchat but want to reach Snapchatters through advertising, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Luckily you don’t need to become a Snapchat user in hopes of learning the app, because you can hire an agency who has experience in Snapchat advertising.

In this guide, I’m going to teach you everything you need to understand about Snapchat advertising and how to find the perfect Snapchat advertising agency for your needs. I’ve also combed through hundreds of websites and user reviews to bring you a top five list that has the best of the best agencies, so you don’t have to spend hours of your time comparing them.

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What You Need to Know About Advertising on Snapchat

If you aren’t already a Snapchat pro, you need to begin by learning the basics about how Snapchat advertising works. Once you grasp the fundamentals of Snapchat’s advertising services, you will be better able to choose the right agency to run a successful campaign on your behalf.

What Does a Snapchat Ad Agency Do?

The best Snapchat advertising agencies bring years of experience, knowledge, and insight to help you choose which type of campaign to launch. You will set goals together, and discuss budgeting. Depending on whether you already have a marketing department, the agency may or may not assist you with branding. Then they will create a branded ad to run on the platform.

A good agency works with you to determine goals, adjust existing marketing materials for Snapchat, and adjust and optimize your ads over time to meet your goals. They will use Snapchat’s metrics as well as their tools to report results to you on a regular basis, so you can understand your return on investment (ROI) and make important decisions with confidence.

What Can a Snapchat Ad Agency Achieve for You?

A Snapchat ad agency can achieve a plethora of different marketing goals for a business. Some business owners have false assumptions about the limitations of digital advertising on Snapchat, but in reality, the platform is a great place to achieve various desirable outcomes:

Increase in-store sales
Increase online sales
Promote new products
Lead generation
Promote your app
Promote videos

At its core, Snapchat advertising is about forming relationships with dedicated daily active users. The platform is conducive to creativity, and a good agency will offer up their creative skill set, paired with an analysis of your needs, to create a vision together with you.

Snapchat can make it easier for users to find out about your business and share what they’ve learned. It can help you find new online or in-person customers or leads, and create deeper relationships with existing customers, improving your conversion or sales rate.

The app is also great for creating excitement and momentum around the launch of new products, services, and even apps. If you design and launch a great app, Snap is the perfect way to keep users engaged and telling the world about your app.

Precise demographic targeting on Snapchat helps to ensure that your target audience views your advertising videos, and the built-in metrics (as well as in-house ad agency tools) allow you to customize further and target the appropriate demographics, building on your success.

Options for Advertisers

Snapchat offers different options for advertisers, so another reason you probably want to go with an agency is that the various options can get a little bit overwhelming. There are three main types of ads:

Snapchat Ads
Lenses
Sponsored Geofilters

All Snapchat advertising is interactive to varying degrees.

With Snapchat Ads, advertisers get to decide between Web View (also known as interactive Discover Ads), Long-Form Video (used to drive traffic to trailers, for instance), Articles, and App Install (a short video with a call-to-action to install an application at the end).

Snapchat Lenses are a perfect example of Snapchat’s innovation. Users taking selfies use lenses a LOT. They are a visual overlay of an image or animation that shows up on the phone screen of anyone viewing an image, and they have shown excellent results for increasing brand awareness and purchase intent. Snapchat Lenses can reach about 16 million users per day.

Geofilters are similar to lenses but linked to a specific place or cause. If you run a restaurant, for example, an ad agency could create a geofilter campaign to help promote brand loyalty among existing customers when they visit, and increase brand awareness among their friends. National geodelivery campaigns have resulted in exposure to 40-60% of daily users!

3V

Snapchat’s 3V philosophy, or “Vertical Video Views,” is another feature that sets it apart from other social media platforms. Because most users capture and view video in a vertical or portrait (as opposed to conventional horizontal or landscape) orientation, Snapchat has embraced this tendency and applied it to advertising.

Native Snapchat ads are vertical-made and mobile exclusive, filling up the whole device screen. Short video ads are perfect for telling your company’s story. The ads are always full-screen with the sound on, and Snapchat’s internal studies show that vertical ads perform up to nine times better than traditional mobile video ads!

3V means your company probably can’t use its existing videos for Snapchat advertising, but a good Snapchat advertising agency will set you up with everything you need to understand and meet Snapchat’s unique creative requirements for future ad video submissions.

Ad Pricing

Snapchat offers advertisers daily, weekly, and annual rates and their minimum daily spend budget is $100 to get on the platform.

Snapchat uses a pricing approach called goal-based bidding (GBB). The pricing structure varies depending on what type of ad you purchase (Web View, Long-Form Video, App Install, Article, Lenses, or Geofilters).

Goal-based bidding is offered by cost-per-thousand, which is called “CPM” for short. You can place CPM bids for swipes (which are like clicks), impressions, or app installs depending on the type of ad. The CPM price will vary with different kinds of advertising and different user actions.

You can also purchase each type of ad several different places: from Snap Ad Manager, Snap Ads API partners, the ad auction, or direct from Snapchat via an Insertion Order. If you hire a professional Snapchat advertising agency, they’ll help you decide the best strategy to use, and the best place to buy your ads.

Demographics, Targeting, and Metrics

Snapchat features excellent built-in demographic insights and targeting techniques, which makes it a capable platform for precisely targeting your advertising to the appropriate user and getting a good ROI.

Here are some ways Snapchat allows you to target user demographics:

Interests – Snapchat has 60+ interest categories including topics like festivals, news, politics, and parenting, all based on users’ actions on the app
Classic demographics – based on factors like name, age, language, household income, and education
Location
Device Attributes – device, OS, carrier, and network
Snap Audience Match (SAM) – Create a custom list, discover a new audience similar to your current audience, a list of all customers who have engaged with your content, and more.

An agency that specializes in Snapchat will know the ins and outs of running a targeted Snapchat campaign with these built-in features, and pass the savings on to you, the advertiser.

Snapchat’s metrics allow for instant feedback on the effectiveness of an ad campaign. An agency will share these metrics with you, and work with you to apply the valuable lessons contained within the data.

There are five significant metrics Snapchat uses to verify your ads’ effectiveness:

Reach – users reached by the ad, and their demographics
Viewability – the number of users who have viewed your ad
Resonance – information on people’s thoughts and feelings about your brand derived from Snapchat and partner polls
Reaction – the impact of the ad in driving purchases or other actions
Verification – the number of times Snapchat has attempted to serve your ad

With dozens of ways to target demographics and numerous ways to verify the effectiveness of an ad campaign, Snapchat can be a treasure trove for advertising or a complicated nightmare, depending on your comfort level with the platform.

Instead of trying to learn from the ground up, most businesses looking to advertise on Snapchat should choose from among the top ad agencies that specialize in Snapchat.

Top FIVE Snapchat Advertising Agencies

Take the guesswork and anxiety out of winning customers on Snapchat by going with a proven ad agency. If you haven’t already gotten an idea of what you want out of an agency from the previous sections, here are our top picks.

#1 Firebelly Marketing

Firebelly Marketing is a social media marketing agency initially founded in 2007 in Indianapolis, IN. Their singular mission is making brands more likable and profitable via social media. Firebelly is our top pick for Snapchat advertising; they offer social media audits, social media management, ad management, blogging, community management, and influencer marketing.

The marketing director of a rug and furniture company hired Firebelly to increase the growth of their audience. Their customer base and traffic grew throughout the social media campaign, and Firebelly was able to deal with any conflicts that arose. The client was impressed with the way Firebelly exceeded expectations in a tight and competitive market.

Firebelly is the 2018 winner of Sprout Social’s distinguished CULTIVATE award for going above and beyond in providing excellent social media services to clients. They aren’t cheap, but their premium services are a great value.

#2 Media Bounty

Hailing from London, Media Bounty is the U.K.’s leading social media marketing agency. They focus on long-term growth through deep insights, outstanding strategies, and “kick-ass creative.” Media Bounty only works with bigger companies with an ad buy budget of at least $10,000 per month.

The marketing manager of Cellar Trends, a beverage distributor company, hired Media Bounty for SMM and digital branding. They say that the “number of video views has increased markedly since Media Bounty was first engaged” and find the team’s exceptional understanding of marketing technology to be “a hallmark of their high-quality work.”

Media Bounty isn’t an inexpensive agency, but they regularly handle campaigns in the millions of dollars, so you know they’ll bring a winning perspective to meet your advertising needs. They have received three awards from The Drum’s Recommended Agency Register, and two awards from RAR Digital Awards.

#3 Viral in Nature

Viral in Nature, based in Calgary, Canada, is a multiple award-winning ad agency entirely focused on SMM. Three different market research companies have selected Viral in Nature as one of the top social media ad agencies in the world.

The owner of an outdoors lifestyle brand hired Viral in Nature to increase his company’s social media presence. The agency oversaw social media campaigns and created relevant video content. The owner says Viral in Nature were excellent listeners, and the campaign went smoothly with excellent results.

If you run a smaller company with a tight budget, Viral in Nature is a good choice. Their relatively low cost per hour makes them attractive for smaller organizations, and they will bring you a good return on your investment.

#4 AdvertiseMint

Based in Hollywood, CA, AdvertiseMint is another agency that focuses exclusively on social media marketing. Depending on whether you have other needs, that could be a pro or a con. Some companies choose to merge their Snapchat advertising into their overall marketing campaign, but others benefit from allowing an SMM specialist to manage their social channels.

If you need a new perspective on digital marketing via Snapchat, or need a campaign rolled out ASAP, you can’t go wrong with AdvertiseMint. They pride themselves on their agility and fast-paced ad campaigns.

#5 i76 Solutions

When i76 Solutions began as a digital marketing shop in Philadelphia, PA they were tightly focused on strategy, execution, and analytics. They later grew into a full-service marketing agency that delivers their customers results in all areas of marketing, but they maintain a strong focus on digital marketing and social media marketing.

AAA Mid-Atlantic, a car insurance and emergency roadside assistance provider, ran a seven-figure campaign with i76 Solutions. Within six months, they had earned significant upticks in brand awareness and membership rates. AAA says that the i76 team was “innovative, detail-oriented, and knowledgeable.”

I76 is a top marketing agency in Philadelphia. Their skilled team of designers and developers can work with you on every aspect of the digital process.

Wrapping Up

In the world of Snapchat advertising, the learning curve is long, but you shouldn’t let that discourage you from targeting customers through the platform. Unlike the old days of digital marketing when a company could handle everything in-house, the current climate dictates that it is wiser to delegate.

If you are willing to look for an agency outside your company to run your Snapchat advertising campaign, you can reap all the rewards offered by Snapchat: innovative features, relationship-building with a loyal user base, precise demographic targeting, extensive metrics, and enough options to suit nearly any type of advertiser.

If you’re having trouble deciding which agency to go with, we recommend Firebelly Marketing as the overall top pick. They’ve been around a while, but they know how to adapt to new trends. Because they focus exclusively on social media marketing, Firebelly brings the depth of knowledge you’ll require to run a successful Snapchat campaign.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Best Mobile Advertising Agencies

Mobile advertising refers to any advertising that appears on mobile devices: smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and other mobile devices with wireless connections. Mobile advertising is a type of mobile marketing and includes text (SMS) ads, mobile browser web banner ads, and banners and videos in games and downloaded apps.

Mobile devices have smaller screens than laptops, desktop computers, and televisions. Mobile advertisements are generally compact and concise to match the specs of mobile devices. Companies like Google and Facebook tailor mobile ads to the user based on browsing history, shopping habits, geolocation, demographics, and interests.

Mobile advertising gives advertisers the highest chances of being seen by their target audience compared to TV or even traditional digital advertising. Mobile devices outnumber television sets three-to-one.

According to Ad Age, in 2017 online ad revenue totaled $88 billion. This figure represents a 21% increase from 2016. Mobile ad revenue grew by a whopping 66%, over ten times more than traditional desktop computer advertising, during the same time.

In March of 2018, Google officially rolled out mobile first indexing, meaning that they now “use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking, to better help – primarily mobile – users find what they’re looking for.”

Does this mean that all Google SEO is now mobile SEO? No, but here’s what it does mean:

Mobile-indexing is rolling out on a broad basis.

Having mobile-friendly content is helpful to perform better in mobile search results
Having fast-loading content is beneficial to perform better for mobile and desktop users

Unless current trends reverse, mobile will continue to grow faster than every other form of advertising, and delegating your mobile advertising needs to a professional agency is the best way to ensure your mobile advertising campaign succeeds.

Mobile advertising offers up-and-coming brands a new foothold into the fastest-growing customer pool right now. Established businesses must consider how to keep up with changing trends. In both cases, unless you’re already a skilled professional experienced in working on mobile advertising campaigns, hiring a mobile advertising agency makes sense.

Advertising Guides

I’ve written this guide to tell you exactly what you need to know about mobile advertising. Once you have a grasp of how mobile ads work and what agencies do, you will know what to look for in an agency. The agencies listed at the end are the best of the best, selected from among hundreds of top agencies.

What You Need to Know About Mobile Advertising

Because mobile advertising includes all ads explicitly served to mobile users, it is a broad category. The purpose of this section is to help you understand what mobile advertising can do for your company. Once you know the benefits of mobile ads and what goes into a mobile ad campaign, you’ll be equipped to choose an appropriate agency to conduct your next mobile campaign.

Best Practices

Not surprisingly, mobile best practices are different in crucial ways from traditional advertising best practices, and also differ from other digital advertising. Here are the most critical areas to focus on for successful mobile advertising:

Be Clear and Concise

Mobile devices have relatively small screens, and users can quickly get saturated with information. They will scroll past overly cluttered ads. Keep things simple.

Optimize Locally

About 30% of mobile searches are for location-specific queries. Users are often looking for coffee shops, gas stations, or other immediate local needs. Consider how your campaign can take advantage of these queries.

Consider Demographics

While demographics are a fundamental of all advertising, the demographic breakdown on mobile is anything but traditional. In addition to age, gender, location, and household income, you also need to consider whether your audience is gamers, news junkies, online shoppers, or another type of user.

Split test and Experiment

Mobile is a great place to experiment and compare the outcomes of two or more different tactics. An excellent mobile ad agency will know what variables to tweak and test to give you the best return on investment.

Monitor Key Metrics

Because mobile users check their phones throughout the day, mobile devices can provide advertisers with more consistent performance data than any other platform. You will need to gauge important metrics like impressions, click-throughs, shares, actions taken, and which users respond best and during what days and times.

Define Your Campaign Objectives and Metrics

Before you choose an agency or undertake any ad campaign, you need to set objectives – goals – and metrics, or ways of measuring your progress towards those goals. Here are some common goals of mobile advertising campaigns:

Establish a brand
Raise brand awareness
Increase sales or revenue
Increase web traffic to a website or a landing page
Increase in-store visits
Promote a coupon or other deal

Your objectives determine what metrics you will use, as well as what actions you take during the campaign. Mobile advertising offers many different metrics, so if you aren’t mobile ad savvy, this is another area where you’ll benefit from consulting an agency.

Get clear on your objectives first; then you can discuss them with prospective ad agencies, and narrow down ad agencies based on their specific area of expertise.

Define Your Target Audience

The second step as you plan your ad campaign is to define who your ads will target. You may already know your target audience, or a good mobile ad agency can help you do market research using test ads and surveys. Google Analytics, Facebook Audience Manager, and Twitter Audience Insights are also great places to do research.

Along with defining your target audience, you also want to understand their context. For example, most people in surveys say they prefer geolocation-specific search ads. Do you know how to target your ads to a specific zip code or geographical area for better conversion?

Context includes where your users are throughout the day, and which location is best to serve your ad: what percentage access their mobile device at home, in public, while traveling, and at work? These details will take your mobile campaign to the next level.

Once you know exactly who your audience is, what they like, what they need, how they think, and how to reach them through advertising, you’re almost ready to start designing the advertisement itself.

Types of Mobile Ads by Platform

Some mobile ad agencies specialize in one or two platforms, and others work with most mobile ad platforms. Do you want your ad to run on a single platform or multiple platforms?

If you are a smaller business owner, you can get great results on a smaller budget by doing your homework and picking the right platform. Bigger businesses should consider the advantages of appearing on multiple platforms.

These are the most important platforms to consider for your ad campaign:

App store promotion
Affiliate and ad serving programs
In-game mobile marketing
QR codes
Mobile search ads
Mobile social ads
Native ads
SMS

App store promotion works great for app install campaigns if your business is an app or has an app associated with it. Affiliate and ad serving programs take the guesswork out of targeting demographics and provide a lot of built-in metrics. In-game mobile marketing targets a large and dedicated user base of mobile gamers.

QR codes are codes displayed on ad space that users scan with their devices, which then take users to a specific webpage or app. QR codes work well with gamification or other fun campaign ideas to spread awareness.

Mobile search ads are any ad that appears during mobile search. As I mentioned earlier, Google now indexes mobile-first in anticipation that the trend of mobile-first users will continue growing. Mobile social ads are ads served to social media users on mobile devices.

A native ad is an ad appearing in an app or website that’s in the same format as the content the user is viewing. Examples include sponsored articles, sponsored posts, and sponsored videos.

SMS or text advertising is one of the oldest forms of mobile marketing. SMS advertising entails sending users texts or having them text a number, to receive offers or other promotional incentives. Some users still respond well to SMS ad campaigns, so don’t overlook the possibility of engaging customers through SMS.

Top FIVE Mobile Advertising Agencies

Here are the top five mobile advertising agencies, hand-picked from hundreds of different agencies around the world.

#1 Moburst

Moburst is a global, full service, mobile marketing agency that focuses entirely on mobile growth for businesses. They have offices in New York, San Francisco, and Tel Aviv. Moburst has successfully redefined hundreds of apps, engaged in extensive A/B testing, and conducted tons of research into user preferences.

The global growth director of a large transportation company hired Moburst for app store optimization. Moburst provided keyword optimization support for Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store on an international scale. The global growth director appreciated their detailed monthly reports, which also included translations. He says their app store optimization is the best in the industry.

Moburst can help your business with any mobile advertising challenge with their creative thinking, data-driven analytics, and ability to convert targeted audiences into loyal users or customers.

#2 PreApps

PreApps is a mobile advertising agency based in Boston, Massachusetts. Their specialty is growing apps from zero to millions of downloads and sales. They have collectively helped apps reach 550 million downloads over six years.

The owner of a mobile dating app hired PreApps to handle production of advertisements for the dating app. The owner gives PreApps high marks for responding to her needs, working independently, and producing high-quality work. The company developed three short video commercials of various lengths, which exceeded the expectations of the dating app owner regarding their quality.

PreApps helps with launch, promotion, recognition in different markets, viral videos, app store optimization, influencer marketing, and scaling. If you need help advertising your app, PreApps is the best specialty firm for your needs. They offer a complimentary growth and strategic plan along with their initial consultation.

#3 Udonis, Inc

Udonis is a Newark, Delaware mobile ad agency that specializes in scaling games and apps from zero to 10 million users. They have had over ten apps featured on Apple Store’s top charts in 2018, deliver millions of app downloads each month, and are a Google and Facebook certified Partner Agency.

The founder of the Travel Nurse Association hired Udonis for lead generation and social media management. She says since she began the partnership, her cost per lead has dropped, and her percentage of high-quality leads has increased. They run every stage of her campaigns, from strategy to content to analysis, with swift turnaround time.

Udonis is excellent at what they do, which is why they won the Clutch. Co leading digital marketing agency award in Philadelphia, PA for 2018, as well as the leading digital marketing agency awards for Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD in 2017.

If you’re ready to scale your user acquisition for a game or mobile app, they promise to get back to you within 24 hours after you reach out.

#4 Zorka.Mobi

Zorka.Mobi is Belarusian a creative and mobile performance agency. Their full range of mobile marketing services includes from strategy development, execution, Influencer Marketing, cost per install (CPI) or cost per action (CPA) media buying, app store optimization, Apple Search Ads, and remarketing campaigns.

Vadim P., the owner of a mobile dev company, hired Zorka.Mobi for a six-figure app marketing campaign. Now his app has a larger user base and higher quality traffic. He says the agency hit all key targets, including fraud protection. He appreciates their skilled work and excellent communication.

Zorka.Mobi coordinates with developers and agencies that have global reach. If you are looking for a reasonably priced international creative firm grounded in analytics and experience, you’ll be well-served by Zorka.Mobi.

#5 Yodel Mobile

London-based Yodel Mobile is 100% focused on mobile marketing. Their global full-service mobile and app marketing consultancy has won multiple awards since they opened shop in 2007. They have worked with startups as well as the following international brands: NBC Universal, Fujifilm, and The Economist Group.

The director of marketing for an established women’s health app hired Yodel, and she says their enthusiasm shines through in the campaign results. Their efforts are translating into long-term benefits regarding the app’s reach.

Consider retaining Yodel Mobile if you are interested in their ongoing app business support, growth optimization, user retention, mobile strategy, and mobile acquisition services.

Wrapping Up

Whether you are a startup business or involved with a large established company, it’s time to get current and prioritize advertising to mobile users.

As you make the shift to a mobile-first world, be sure to keep mobile best practices in mind, define your objectives and key metrics, define your target audience and their context, and review the pros and cons of different advertising platforms.

Moburst is our number one overall pick for the best mobile advertising agency. As a premier global firm, they have the best full-service approach to mobile growth for companies looking to capture global mobile market share. If you demand excellent results but are working with a smaller budget, Zorka.Mobi may be the perfect international global mobile ad agency for your needs.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Best Twitter Marketing Agencies

Social media has taken the world by a storm, and along with it have come a plethora of advertising opportunities. Advertising agencies across the country have been taking advantage of the growing social media platforms and can help you better be seen. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best advertising agencies designed for Twitter to help build your brand.

Advertising on Twitter and the Challenges it Presents

There are over 260 million Twitter accounts, and the number continues to grow. But advertising on Twitter yourself can be extremely challenging. Some of the frustrations you could run into are:

Getting your tweets spread more
Budgeting to advertise to your needs
Building up a base of viewers

Although Twitter is a massive medium with great potential, many people find it extremely difficult to advertise their business through tweets on their own. Simply put, it’s tough to get your tweets spread through a wide range.

You’ll also need to consider budgeting when you’re getting your ads out there. Building a base to meet your goals can be difficult, especially when you feel at a loss for getting eyes to see your tweets. In this article, I’ll talk about the growing challenges when choosing an advertising agency for Twitter, and the top 5 to help make that easier.

While advertising your business yourself can feel like a hopeless chore on Twitter, it’s just as challenging choosing an agency to help you. Some of the problems you could run into are:

Strengths and weaknesses of each agency.
How much you’re willing to spend.
Deciding which advertising agency is right for your business.

Advertising Guides

Which Advertising Agency is Best for Twitter?

While many marketing agencies can feel the same, when you learn more about the details of their strategy, it’s noticeably different. For instance, many agencies will focus on trends and the changing attitudes throughout social media, while others could prioritize awareness in the blogging community.

While each agency will utilize both these strategies, it’s important to know which you prioritize to find an agency that will do the same.

When it comes to budgeting, advertising on Twitter is a great choice. Social media ads are the most cost-effective way to advertise. For instance, you could spend nearly 1000 dollars for a billboard that potentially could only be seen by less than 1000 people. But with social media, you could spend 3 dollars for an ad seen by 1000.

The most challenging part of picking an ad agency for your business is exactly that, choosing. There are so many options that specialize in social media and can meet your goals. So which one works for you? It’s entirely up to you and what goals you have.

To help simplify the process, I’ve made a list of the top 5 advertising agencies for Twitter, in order of best to last, to make it easier for you to decide:

I’ll explain their strengths so you can decide which one will best help you exceed your goals on Twitter. Advertising can be complicated; these agencies will take the stress away and help you spread your brand.

LYFE Marketing

In my research of the best advertising agencies to choose from, the one that stuck out the most is LYFE Marketing. LYFE focuses on an affordable but goal-driven advertising strategy that stands out from the other options.

They aim to boost the traffic to your site in an exponential way that makes your money worthwhile. They stuck out to me as an agency that you can count on, and while others can meet your goals, LYFE seems to exceed them.

One customer said, ““Anytime I had a question or problem, LYFE knew exactly how to solve it.” LYFE focuses on quality and precision.

They start by launching an advertising campaign. The strategy targets the exact audience that you need to spread your business, including your contacts, website audience, and demographics of the people you advertise too.

They also track throughout your advertising to know when and what to keep. LYFE identifies what is working and what isn’t to make sure they’re advertising the best way to meet your goals. Best of all, they’re low-risk.

Their contracts last three months, and if you aren’t pleased, you can cancel with a months’ notice. With all the benefits available, and the low-risk, this was the best advertising agency I found to spread your business through Twitter.

Taktical Digital

Coming in second through my research is Taktical Digital. While LYFE specialized in all types of digital marketing, Taktical Digital has a focus on social media including Twitter, Google, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Taktical Digital found that Twitter’s large base is why it’s so appealing to social media marketers, including them. Their size alone makes it a prime spot to advertise across the country. Demographics are a big part of their advertising strategy.

They found that African- American and Hispanic users made up 14 percent of Twitter’s base, with over 37 percent of the total base between the ages of 18-29. Taktical Digital uses this data to ensure your advertising is reaching an age that is likely to be interested in your business on Twitter.

This is the type of work you get with Taktical Digital, a specialization of all things social media. According to a poll, “(63.5%) of respondents said Twitter produced the best ROI.” ROI is a return on investment. Taktical Digital knows this and makes social media marketing their primary goal.

They want to provide hard data to back up their success to each of their clients. When it comes to advertising on Twitter, they hold to their promise that the data is accurate, and improves to make sure your business is thriving and meeting its goals.

Thanks to their knowledge in social media advertising, they’ve simplified their strategy into three ways you can advertise on Twitter:

Promoted Tweets
Promoted Accounts
Promoted Trends

The tweets show up at the top; they’re the simplest way to spread to your target audience. The accounts are on the sidebar, and this spreads an entire profile rather than one tweeted product. The trends are when you utilize a hashtag to spread your brand.

And this is just a tiny example of the expertise you’ll get from Taktical Digital.

Thrive Agency

It’s hard to top what LYFE and Taktical Digital bring to the complicated medium of Twitter advertising, but Thrive makes a strong case for why they’re a great choice for your agency.

Thrive runs off a single monthly price, a price they don’t think you’ll regret. On their website, they state, “A shiny new website is worthless if it doesn’t help you reach your goals.” They understand that flashiness isn’t everything. You have goals in my mind, and that’s their priority.

This is why Thrive steals my #3 spot of the best agencies available. They don’t try to sell you on a flashy lie of what you’ll get from them. If you have a goal and revenue in mind, that’s what they’ll get you. Twitter’s ad revenue reaches upward of 600 million, and it’s on the rise. Thrive is a great choice, you want profit, and they do too.

They start with increasing your Twitter following to make sure you’re getting the eyes that you need. Their goal is to add followers by the hundreds across the world to make sure your business spreads on Twitter the way you want.

They’ll then focus on locating your ideal customer. They don’t want to spread to a few eyes across the world. They want to locate who is interested in your product and bull’s-eye that demographic to make sure you’re spreading your business.

Viral In Nature

“Capturing the POWER of SOCIAL MEDIA for the benefit of our clients.” This is Viral in Nature’s mission statement. Located in Calgary, their goal is to spread your business through Twitter and social media sites across the globe.

The awards speak for themselves. They’ve won numerous awards for social media marketing from GoodFirms and Clutch awarding them the top digital marketing company.

This is why Viral in Nature made the list, simplicity. With all the other options you will get results much like this one, but not with the simplicity Viral in Nature can offer. They want to give results with as little or as much input you feel like giving.

They start with the usual. Identifying your specific goals and finding a strategy to meet those goals. Then content is the priority. For Twitter, they strategize the best way to advertise on the site to best spread your business.

One customer said, “They’re great at listening and executing what I ask them.” Although a simple review, I think it sums up perfectly what Viral in Nature is all about. They’ll listen to your requests and make sure you’re getting quality results.

The best results will come from their “Monitor & Engage” section of the partnership. They analyze what worked and what didn’t. They analyze this from 9 am – 9 pm, 7 days a week. There is a sense of dedication that I felt like Viral in Nature deserved to make this list.

They seem to be a great option for advertising on Twitter, and their awards echo volumes what they bring to the table. For Twitter, a personal medium, Viral in Nature might just be the personal you need for your business.

Socially in

While this wasn’t the best option I found available on the market; they were a close second due to their exceptionally creative team. If creativity is your #1 priority on Twitter, Socially in may be the best choice for you.

They’re staff consists of artists, designers, writers, and photographers; all lead by professional strategists guaranteeing you quality results. They focus on passion; your passion. The creative blend of their staff with your goal in mind makes it easy to answer if this is the right agency for you.

Socially in follows a motto; “Ideas + Execution = Connection.” And they stuck by this motto and managed to stretch across companies including Birmingham Business Journal, ADWEEK, and Chief Marketer. The downside is their lack of experience compared to the other companies.

What they shine on is passion, what they lack are clients and experience. This may not necessarily be a bad thing; you could get a more personal relationship with working with them. But it may not be the right choice for you.

However, if you’re looking for a smaller team of dedicated creative members, Socially in could be your agency. They may not have as many numbers to show, but they have commitment; a commitment that might not be matched with the other choices.

Final Thoughts

By now you might feel how complicated it is to advertise on Twitter. The best results require professionals, and professionals require an agency.

Twitter is growing and growing, along with ad revenue. And agencies are capitalizing on this. If they succeed, you succeed. Their strategies are all unique and bring different expertise to the table.

This will be the most challenging choice for you, what do I go with? It’s important to remember the stress you have when deciding is nothing compared to advertising your business on Twitter by yourself. Advertising agencies make it their priority that you succeed stress-free.

They’ll find exactly what strategy will work you to ensure you’re getting your business out there to the over 260 million Twitter accounts.

Whether you want a guaranteed large group of professionals with LYFE Marketing, or a more personal approach with Socially I, there’s an agency out there to suit everyone’s needs.

Advertising is complicated and hard to achieve correctly. But the good news is the market knows this, and benefits from it. Twitter’s popularity is only benefiting the number of choices you have for which agency you can choose from.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Best Pinterest Marketing Agencies

Advertising on social media grows every year. As the cheapest option to advertise, it’s becoming more and more popular. Advertisements are still challenging to connect to the correct people and convert their interest into sales. In this article, I’ll be discussing the difficulties with advertising by yourself, and the top 5 advertising agencies you should be using for Pinterest.

Advertising on Pinterest and the Challenges it Presents

Pinterest has integrated their ads to look exactly like other pins; gathering more eyes to the ad and spreading the brand. Because of this integration, people are using Pinterest more and more to share their company. Over 61 percent of Pinterest users have made a purchase after seeing an advertisement on the social media site.

Pinterest has also designed their site to be able to save the advertisement to view later; just like a regular picture you liked. This allows for a database of shoppers, browsing through content catered to you, so you can purchase what you like.

This social design is what makes Pinterest so great for advertising your brand; a unique display of content catered to specific demographics, guaranteed to make a purchase. Although for advertisers this has benefited them greatly, it still can be extremely difficult to spread your brand yourself.

Some of the problems you could run into are:

Getting enough people to see your ads
Getting people to pin your ads
Getting people to make a purchase
Advertising to the right people

This is where advertising yourself gets difficult; although the system is catered to a smooth ad-base, it isn’t easy. It’s very common for users not to be able to get enough eyes on their content. Pinterest is massive, with over 250 million active users, and ranked as the 4^th largest social medium. So, getting your advertisements to spark and go viral isn’t an easy task.

You also have to make sure your advertisements are hitting the correct demographics. Spreading your content can be simple enough by pinning onto certain forums, but if you’re selling the newest First-Person Shooter to women over 55, you’re not going to see many sales.

Which Advertising Agency is best for Pinterest?

Using an advertising agency for Pinterest can change the way you spread your brand, and more importantly, a team of professional staff can guarantee that you’re spreading your brand to the right people. They can study and strategize exactly who needs to see your content to make sure you’ll meet your goals.

While using an advertising agency for Pinterest can greatly expand your brand, it has its challenges as well. Some of the challenges you might face are:

Choosing the right agency for your goals
Budgeting for the right agency
Strengths and weaknesses of that agency

By far the greatest challenge you‘ll have when picking an ad agency for your business is simply that; choosing. There are so many options that specialize in Pinterest and other social media that scraping away between the hundreds can seem like a chore. So, which one works for you? This is entirely up to you and what you’ve set forth to accomplish.

Budgeting is also a common hill you’ll have to climb. Once you have decided who you want to partner with to benefit your brand, you’ll have to decide if that budget is right for you. Is the price worth the risk? Luckily, there are ways to limit the risk.

Go with an agency that has proven results across the country. Make sure they have their unique strategies to ensure you’re getting the best financial investment when partnering with them. Many good ones will have percentages of the success to show that your risk is very low when investing.

Should you be overwhelmed? If you feel that way, my goal here is to make it easier. The number of hills you have to climb can leave you wondering if it’s worth it. I’ve put together the top 5 agencies you should use when advertising on Pinterest. These are ranked in order from best to last:

I’ll explain each of their strengths, so you can decide which one will best help you meet your financial goals on Pinterest. Advertising can be complicated, and these agencies take the stress away.

Digital Marketing Agency

There are some incredible Pinterest advertising agencies, but the one that sticks out as the best option for you is DMA. While the agencies we’ll talk about also provide a sense of dedication, none provided the innovation DMA does.

They are constantly updating their strategies and practices to make your search results are meeting the right demographics. They are always finding the best option for Pinterest users to see your brand through the best message.

They’ll focus on your target audience, driving in on the base that will be most likely to make you financially successful. Their team follows the relevant users to make sure they’re the ones coming back; the ones more likely to be interested in your brand.

If you’re looking for a focus-driven advertisement agency that can help grow your Pinterest viewers and your brand, go with DMA. Their team of innovators is sure not to disappoint.

Taktical Digital

Coming in at a close second is Taktical Digital. They are experts of all thing social media, especially Pinterest. They’re recognized partners of all the major advertising platforms, and the awards speak for themselves.

Pinterest has over 175 million active monthly users, and it’s continuing to grow. This is why Taktical Digital has chosen to expertise in sites like Pinterest; making sure their investment is your investment.

There were over 2 billion searches on Pinterest every month, so demographics are a big part of Taktical Digital’s advertising strategy. They want to find the best audience for you to target for, so choosing keywords that fit your brand is a major focus for them.

After the strategy is set, they’ll follow your viewers, what’s working and what isn’t. And adapt to fix the problems. Your success is their success, so making sure each day you’re getting the eyes you want on their brand is a priority.

This is the type of work you get with Taktical Digital, a specialization of all things social media. They want to provide data that proves the success and why you’re succeeding when using them. Even though Taktical Digital is second on my list overall, they are the best company when it comes to a reliable relationship.

Ignite

Ignite came in as the Social Media Agency of the Year in 2016, so their work will speak for themselves. This is partly because they are only social. Social media is their passion, so the focus will be driven for success in sites like Pinterest.

They’ve been growing for over seven years, and continue to hire social media experts to find the best way to market your brand. They’ve worked with notable brands like Staples, World Kitchen, and Crocs. While Ignite is 3rd on my list, they’re first when it comes to their drive and attention to detail.

They’ve proven to provide the best social media strategies on the market and have shown success every day. Whether it’s specific content creation that you need or just a solid strategy to guarantee success, their staff is eagerly waiting.

One review said, “The company has adapted to a changing industry and is always seeking how to improve and deliver value to clients.” This review speaks volumes to the quality you’ll get from Ignite.

Passion is where they thrive. If you’re looking for a social media-driven agency that is guaranteed to be passionate about spreading your brand through Pinterest, you can’t go wrong with Ignite.

Tailwind

Tailwind brings a unique side to the Pinterest advertising market by helping you monitor your competitors. They help you study the followers of your brands to spread your market across more demographics.

They’ll also want you actively engaged with your competitors. Following trends and topics to make sure you’re up to date with where you need to be advertising. Where they thrive is your voice. They want to spread your voice to outshine competitors in your field.

It’s a much more battle-oriented marketing agency, following other competitors to see how their success can be your success.

They’ll help with finding keywords to best suit your market. They’ll also manage the conversations about your brand to make sure they stay up to date with how people talk about your business.

This will give them active data to best engage with your brand in real time. They can use that info to utilize the best way to pin your brand across Pinterest. They’re goal oriented, with a step by step program to push you across the market.

They’re partnered with Pinterest marketing, and use this to follow the most popular interests across the site. Their unique strategy is what gets Tailwind on my list of the best Pinterest ad agencies for you to try.

Perfect Search Engine

Last but not least is Perfect Search Engine, based out of Chicago. What they lack in a large group of clients, they make up for in a personal relationship. Too many this could be negative, but to others, it’s a positive. You won’t get a staff full of decades of credentials, but you will get personal clients.

To companies like Perfect Search Engine, there is potential to get even better results. With larger advertising agencies, they sometimes can get overwhelmed. So, it’s worth not just overlooking Perfect Search Engine when searching for the right agency.

They make up for their smaller team with a large boost of creativity. With fewer clients, you’re getting more personal results that you might not be able to get from a company like DMA. They also have a primary focus on content.

They say “quality content is kind of our thing” on their website, and it shows. Perfect Search Engine’s small staff is all certified with Google Analytics and HubSpot Content Marketing. So even though the numbers might not be there just yet, they are more than qualified to spread your brand all across Pinterest.

Final Thoughts

You may be thinking that neither choice is easy. It’s difficult to advertise by myself, and it’s difficult to pick an advertising agency to help me on Pinterest. While both can seem like chores, the former is far more difficult.

When advertising yourself, you simply won’t have the data to help you guarantee success. You won’t be able to track your results and won’t be able to see who you’re advertising for. This can leave you feeling hopeless waiting for your brand to spread across Pinterest.

You also won’t have a proven strategy that can help you know the right demographics are seeing your content. If you’re not advertising to the right group of people, then the ads are pointless. It can be seen by 1000 people, but if that group isn’t interested in your content, it’s a waste.

I’ve made this list of the top 5 to make it easier for you when you finally choose which agency is right for you. The decision still might not be as easy as you hoped for. Each advertising agency brings a unique strategy for promoting the best way across Pinterest.

If you’re looking for proven, successful staff to help promote your brand, go with DMA, but if you want to make sure you’re getting a personal relationship for the long-term, go with Perfect Search Engine. These are all important things to consider when choosing.

Pinterest is the simplest social medium to promote content online. Their integration through the app makes it hard for users even to know when they are looking at an advertisement. This is all the more reason to guarantee you’re spreading your brand the best you can.

Pinterest is growing and growing; make sure your business is too.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Best Amazon Marketing Agencies

Online purchasing has been on the rise, causing retail to struggle increasingly with each passing year. Companies like Amazon have been dominating the way people purchase anything from video games to that newest mattress you’ve been searching for. Because of this huge change in the market, advertising has been adapting and benefiting from companies like Amazon.

Amazon has 310 million active users and grossed over 178 billion dollars in 2017 alone. So it’s no surprise advertising companies are trying to benefit off the growing market.

In this article, I’ll discuss the five best advertising agencies you should be using on Amazon, and some of the difficulties you could face choosing the most effective option. Agencies have professional marketing teams to ensure you’re getting the best results to spread your brand.

Advertising on Amazon and the Challenges it Presents

Why should I use an advertising agency for Amazon? It can be frustrating deciding how to go about hiring an advertising agency for major companies like Amazon, but when I discuss the benefits, the frustrations will bother you less and less.

One of the major benefits of hiring these agencies is simplicity. Digital marketing can be difficult. With the vast amount of decisions to make for how exactly to profit the most from advertising, an agency takes all the stress away.

Advertising agencies work to achieve your goals with your specific needs in mind. Most of these agencies have a team of social experts to guarantee you’ll be getting the best results. Their marketing teams are driven to promote your brand through different forms of technology. Deciding how you want your brand or product promoted will make it easier for you to choose which agency will work for you.

What are some difficulties? The benefits speak for themselves, but what’s the catch? While finding the right agency will make your life much simpler, it isn’t exactly easy to decide. Each advertising agency has strengths and weaknesses. They are alike in some ways, but very different in others.

Some common challenges you’ll face are:

What the advertising agencies’ strengths are.
How much you’re willing to spend.
Deciding which advertising agency is right for you.

Which Advertising Agency is Best for Amazon?

For instance, some agencies will focus on creative development. Their team could be suited to make a shiny website that could help promote your brand or product on Amazon. But they could also be more suited on strategy; ensuring keywords typed across Amazon will lead to the best results for your brand. Deciding what works for you is a great step to picking an agency.

Another problem is finding out cost-effective ways to manage how exactly you want to advertise. Whether it is getting your brand sponsored on Amazon, or paying for each click you receive, deciding what financially works for you will be a big step to finding the right advertising agency.

Advertising Guides

Deciding which agency you choose to go with will be the hardest one. There are tons to choose from, each with their own strengths, and each with their own unique strategies. Which should you go with? The best agency for you all depends on what you need. Each agency will work to fit your needs, but you have to decide which one you think will meet those needs.

I’ll be going over the five best advertising agencies, ranked in order, which you should consider.

I’ll explain their strengths so you can decide which one will best help you exceed your goals. Advertising on Amazon can be complicated; these agencies will take the complications away and help you spread your brand.

Digital Operative

Digital Operatives is located all across the world from Tokyo to San Diego. Innovation is a common trope with Digital Operatives. They’re innovative pioneers themselves. They started advertising for their own products and creatively succeeded with their unique style.

They focus on experimentation; always finding new ways to uniquely advertise for your brand. On top of this, they still utilize a firm strategy with their team. This combination is why Digital Operatives earns the #1 spot on this list.

They stick with the mantra, “Start Small. Think Big. Adapt.” They’ve stuck by this and brought an exceptional advertising agency that blends its own unique creativity. So, what about the work? What’s so special about Digital Operatives?

A review from their San Diego office says, “Really strong morals – truly care about their clients and delivering the best possible solutions to them which is super cool (and refreshing.)” This review speaks volumes to their goals.

Digital Operatives’ primary goal is yours. They move through a structured and proven strategy that guarantees the best advertising for your brand. First, they’ll want to understand what you want and where you want to go. They treat every business unique.

KPIs. These are key performance indicators. Digital Operatives set these to follow a smart direction for your brand. When success is shown on these indicators, they’ll capitalize on it and keep the success flowing. When there is room for improvement, they improve.

We’ll be discussing other advertising agencies that are excellent, and perfect for advertising on Amazon. But when it comes to dedication, driven by a long-term partnership, Digital Operatives sets the bar pretty high.

Search Engine People

Search Engine People was founded in 2001. Located in Canada, they were one of the first digital marketing agencies. As Google started to grow in popularity more and more, people were finding ways to advertise their products online. Jeff Quipp, the founder, decided to launch Search Engine People.

Search Engine People has over 70 employees and have worked on over 2000 projects. They thrive on their team knowledge. In fact, many of the team members are now Professors across schools in Canada. They believe when you succeed, they succeed.

Many people underestimate how difficult it can be to manage your own digital marketing on Amazon, and Search Engine People knows this. Regent says, “First class organization. Everyone we’ve dealt with there has been personable, efficient, and motivated. Our Google AdWords results have increased significantly, it’s been money well spent!”

When you partner with Search Engine People, you’ll be led by a dedicated account manager who will work to make sure your unique voice echoes throughout their office. They will make sure the team is marketing to meet your goals. When you win, they win.

They focus on trends in the area you want to advertise on Amazon. These trends help mold the digital strategy that they’ll use to make sure your brand is being shared. Their expertise with hundreds of clients helps them gather the best trends and strategy to meet your goals.

ROI Revolution

While ROI Revolution didn’t make the top of my list, it was a close second. They have over 450 brands and retailers they help advertise all across the globe. They currently are driving over 1 billion dollars in revenue for those clients including, Kenneth Cole, Hue, and Scully and Scully. When you use ROI Revolution, the work speaks for itself.

While ROI Revolution focuses on hundreds of brands and strategies, they have a focus on Amazon advertising. ROI Revolution states on their website, “Roughly twice as many shoppers start their product search on Amazon over Google.” They know this and have specific strategies to ensure your brand is being viewed.

They even have a guide on their website discussing topics such as “dynamic tactics” for showing off through all the competition on Amazon to taking “full advantage of Sponsored Products.”

Nicole says, “At first, we feared that ROI Revolution would not understand our complex product offerings and brands. …The team helped relieve our fears. It was clear in the discussions they did understand.” This review doesn’t come surprising given their expertise.

ROI Revolution stands out by using their unique strategy, execution, and optimization. Through constantly testing and analyzing their strategy, they’re able to adapt and only stick with proven strategies to optimize your Amazon advertising.

Vertical Rail

It doesn’t matter if you’re experienced in digital marketing already; selling on Amazon can be difficult even for veterans. This is why Vertical Rail markets for two different types of people, new sellers on the Amazon Marketplace and experienced veterans who need a strategic plan to boost their profits.

Vertical Rail uses tactics like these to boost your sales and make your life easier:

Increase Organic Traffic
Increase Conversion Rate
Increase Sales

One review says, “If you’re serious about getting what needs to be done…done, than you’ll do very well at VR. This is a no BS, cutting edge, out-of-the-box thinking environment that rewards creative, forward thinking minds.”

While you may not be getting the same experience you would from Digital Operatives, you are getting the same passion. They stick with their proven strategies to ensure you’re advertising the best you can on Amazon.

Amazon has around 300 million users, so having expert’s mange your marketing is vital. Vertical Rail focuses on hands-on- account management and organic search marketing, ensuring you’re getting the best results for your brand.

On top of this, they also focus on web design and social and mobile marketing. This wide range of marketing options creates a low-risk opportunity for you to advertise your products on Amazon.

Add 3

Add 3 is based in Seattle, and on top of Amazon, they also advertise for companies including Costco Wholesale, Boydgaming, and it Cosmetics. While they still provide a unique strategy, they simply don’t have enough experience to rank higher on my list.

While this could be negative when you’re making a decision, many could find this as a positive. What they may lack in experience, Add 3 makes up for in a more personal relationship. Without having 450 dedicated clients like ROI Revolution, you’ll most certainly get a more personable experience.

They advertise on Amazon through Sponsored Products, and Headline Search Ads; much like many of the other agencies. While it isn’t special, they remain successful to their clients. When it comes to a budget, this company could be worth looking more into.

Given a smaller client base, transparency is where they shine. They’ll be honest about the results of their strategies with your brand, and revamp when they need too. Your success is theirs. What Add 3 lacks in numbers, they make up for in a driven staff dedicated to your success.

Final Thoughts

By now, if you’re considering advertising on Amazon, you already know the challenges and pitfalls you could face. Whether it’s the vast numbers of options or a fixed budget, problems can add up.

Advertising agencies speak for themselves by utilizing professional and proven strategies to ensure you succeed. It’s the accountability that drives the need for an agency. Your success is their success. Your failure is their failure.

You can expect results from professional agencies like the 5 we discussed in this article. Whether it be ROI Revolution with proven numbers to show for their success or Add 3 for a more personal client relationship; the options are endless.

Amazon is growing and growing every day, changing the world. While you’re looking to take advantage of that, advertising agencies are too. They benefit from you, and if you’re not satisfied, they change their strategy to make sure you are.

The risks really are minimal when using a successful agency. The results are there, and they don’t lie. While Amazon is growing, so is the vast amount of content. You need professional marketers to ensure people can see your product.

The stress of not spreading your brand enough really isn’t worth it. The options are endless, and the risk is low. Use this list to find an advertising agency that works for you, and can meet all your needs. There is a perfect company for everyone, and they’re waiting for your success.

Amazon continues to grow, and your product can too.

by Bryan Mixon December 21, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

Dress Code For Lawyers

Lawyers are traditionally known to wear tailored suits to look professional for their daily responsibilities. However, recent trends in fashion have seen some lawyers working in their offices wearing casual attire.

If you’re unsure what to wear to the firm or you’re looking for a change of appearance, here’s a brief overview of dress codes for lawyers.

Dress Code for Male Lawyers

Lawyers spend a significant amount of time in office with occasional appearances in court and other public locations (i.e. interviews with clients, research at a library, etc.). There are two dress codes for lawyers which call for either a formal business attire or something more casual.

Formal Business Dress Code: Lawyers should wear a white dress shirt which a neutral collared tie beneath their tailored suit. Common suit colors include gray or navy (note: wearing black is known to represent funerals which are advised to avoid in the courtroom environment). This lawyer’s dress code is meant for court appearances, interviews, meetings with clients, and other business-related activities.
Casual Business Dress Code: Here, lawyers can skip the tie and discard the suit to wear something less formal. Wearing a golf shirt or attractive sports shirt with casual trousers or khakis is acceptable. Having a sports jacket, cotton sweater, or a vest can also be a suitable addition. These outfits are common for less formal events and gatherings.

Lawyers should remember to wear appropriate shoes. Leather dress shoes are the legal industry’s standard that can be paired with black, brown, dark gray, or navy socks depending on the suit color. Loafers may also be acceptable in casual days. Here you can read more about shoes for lawyers.

Dress Code for Female Lawyers

The dress code for female lawyers is a bit more complex. In the history of legal work, women were predominantly providing legal support and not working on legal cases. However, recent years has seen an increase in female lawyers which has led to some controversy over what a woman should and should not be wearing.

Regardless of the situation, whether it is a casual event or a formal court hearing, there are some articles of clothing that female lawyers should never wear. These garments are often forbidden by a law firm’s dress code and they include:

Tight fitting and low cut tops of any kind
Shirts with straps, open backs, halter tops, etc.
Stretch pants, yoga style pants, etc.
Miniskirts and capris that end above the knee

As a general rule of thumb, female lawyers should avoid showing any cleavage and revealing too much leg.

To keep things simple, females should follow similar guidelines that define male lawyer’s dress codes. Expect to wear suits in similar styles and made to fit in a similar fashion as men. However, as an alternative, some law firms allow for skirts to be worn so long as they are not too short.

Lawyer’s Fashion Worldwide: In Pakistan, the dress code for lawyers is dependent on the seasons. In the summer, lawyers wear a white shirt with a white neck band and trousers. This dress code is strictly enforced in the country.

Overview of Unacceptable Clothing

To help distinguish what can vs. should not be worn, here’s a quick list of unacceptable clothing choices that would breach a lawyer’s dress code:

Tight fitting clothing
Shorts or jeans
Casual, non-collared shirts
Sweatshirts, sweat suits, or gym clothes
T-shirts
Cargo pants
Golf shirts emblazoned with logos and images
Crazy colors or leopard print
Novelty items (i.e. ties, clips, etc.)

General Appearance

Lawyers are expected to be well-groomed when arriving at the office or the courtroom.

In regards to hairstyle, men are expected to maintain shorter hairstyles that are neat and conservative in style. Facial hair is acceptable as long as it is well groomed. Arriving to work with wild long hair or rugged facial hair would be inappropriate.
For women, both long and short hairstyles are acceptable. As long as the style is neat and professional, there won’t be a problem. Arriving with untamed, messy styles or brightly colored hair may cause alarm. Also, some limitations may include having hair longer than their waist and child-like hairstyles.

Accessories

Perhaps this may apply more to women than men, but there are a few dress codes considerations regarding accessories.

For women, jewelry and accessories are acceptable if they are not in excess or too extravagant. Alternatively, wearing cheap jewelry may be frowned upon. Wearing strong perfumes, too much makeup, revealing bra straps or tattoos, and long nails should be avoided.

For men, having professional looking tie clips and pins may be suitable for their attire. Wearing a professional watch would be acceptable. Wearing too much jewelry, excessive cologne, or revealing tattoos should be avoided.

Briefcases

While this is not necessarily lawyer’s attire, briefcases play an important part of a lawyer’s job. Having the right briefcase to carry legal documents and office supplies while working on the go should also follow along with the dress code for lawyers.

Imagine arriving into the courtroom with a briefcase showcasing an image of your favorite superhero fighting crime. For advice on briefcases for lawyers, try this.

Law Firm’s Dress Codes

If you work at a law firm, the dress code detailed may be different from what you read above. Every firm reserves the right to create a dress code for their lawyers to maintain the image and professionalism of the firm. This article is meant to provide a general overview of what lawyers should wear and what to avoid.

by Bryan Mixon November 19, 2018 Ultimate Guides Leave a comment

9 Skills Of A Successful Lawyer

There are some who have it and some who don’t. Having the right set of skills of a lawyer can lead a career of abundance and great success. If you’re looking to brush up your skills, here’s a list of 9 skills to become a better lawyer.

1. Strong Communication Skills

Lawyers must have strong oral communication skills and written communication skills to accurately relay critical legal information. As well, a significant portion of a lawyer’s job is to create strong and convincing arguments which are presented in the courtroom. Judges and juries all have their own opinions, beliefs, and backgrounds so a lawyer’s ability must be able to reach out to all of them and convince accordingly.

In addition, good listening skills are found in a successful lawyer. Every client has their own version of their situation. Lawyers must listen carefully to the details and analyze what their clients need and how to take action.

2. People Skills

Lawyers are in constant contact with people with is why people skills are required. The entire system of law has engagement with people. Judges, clerks, senior partners, barristers, and other legal workers are just some of the people lawyers will encounter on a daily basis. Being able to be relatable, polite, respectful and interesting some skills to consider.

If this is a skill lacking in a lawyer, it can lead to some very nasty situations with clients seeking retribution for their perceived mistreatment. Regardless of how good a lawyer may be at formulating arguments and winning cases, maintaining good relationship develops a deeper sense of professionalism

3. Time Management Skills

Lawyer’s have a heavy workload and can experience demanding deadlines at short notice. Having the right time management and organizational skills allows for a lawyer’s work to be performed more effortlessly and efficiently.

Time management is the core of a lawyer’s work ethics. Lawyers who prioritize their work and stay ahead of their tasks can lead to more time to enjoy extracurriculars or taking on more cases.

4. Research Skills

Lawyers will spend a lot of time digging around in archives and reading up on old cases. Research skills include the ability to read large amounts of information in short time, understanding facts, figures, and charts, and analyzing matter in a way that can be used later are vital features of a lawyer.

Research skills should be honed early in a lawyer’s career. To do so, make a habit of summarizing a few important points from large documents and articles. This is extremely advantageous when caseloads increase which require more background details, legal document drafting, and prepare advice for clients.

5. Detail Oriented

All lawyers have to have an eye for details. Accuracy and precision is needed to become a successful lawyer. If a lawyer makes a mistake on a single word it can change the entire meaning of a contract or a clause. Lawyers must ensure all their communications, such as email, letters, lawyer websites and legal documents, are always perfect for giving them to a client.

Small mistakes can lead to a bad impression on a client and a bad experience for a lawyer. The worst case scenario would be a lawyer getting sued for malpractice for mistakes that could have been avoided.

6. Creativity

The fundamental part of a lawyer’s job is to win cases for their clients or protect their client’s interests. Being creative is a skill needed by successful lawyers because it allows for flexibility and a wide range of possible solutions when working on a case.

Lawyers have to be both logical and analytical. However, they should not ignore their creativity. Having that creative edge allows for a lawyer to outmaneuver any situation, in and out of the courtroom.

7. Judgement

Although creativity is important, a lawyer also requires strong judgment at the core of their practice. Lawyers need the ability to logically and reasonably draw conclusions based on the limited amount of information they receive.

Throughout a court hearing, lawyers must be aware of the arguments their opponents are making which finding weaknesses and flaws in logic through the hearings.

8. Stress Management

Lawyers spend a great amount of time listening to client’s and trying to solve their problems. There are some clients who have often experienced an extreme incident which creates a difficult and stressful situation for themselves and the lawyer. Mentioned early was the importance of having both people and communication skills. It is during these high-stress situations that these skills are needed to help handle a client’s stress.

In fact, these same skills are critical for lawyer’s themselves. Lawyers will occasionally take on the stresses of their clients. Having the ability to manage stress, both in clients and within themselves, is a valuable skill to maintain a long-lasting career as a lawyer.

9. Business Skills

Every lawyer, whether working at a firm or solo practitioner, must be aware of the business side of their practice. Law is a billable service that receives the majority of their income by the hours they can bill. If lawyers lack the necessary business skills to bill their clients accordingly, it could lead to significant losses for the firm or personal practice.

Being able to explain your hourly rates, additional charges, and contracting with clients is critical for a lawyer to continue to practice law. However, billing is just one aspect that has to be learned. Marketing, networking, and accounting for lawyers are equally important.

by Bryan Mixon November 19, 2018 Marketing Leave a comment

What Shoes Should Lawyers Wear?

As you step into the courtroom, you’ll want to put your best foot forward. Your appearance strikes an immediate impression and people are constantly looking you up and down as you move through the room.

A striking appearance can help you build an appearance of authority and your shoes are usually the first thing noticed.

When you’re out shopping for the best shoes for lawyers, here’s a few things to keep in mind.

Tips For Lawyers Shopping for Shoes

If you’re reading this, you’re may be in need of advice to shop for the perfect lawyer shoes. To get things started, depending on price to determine the quality of a shoe is not a smart option. Many designer brands, like Prada or Gucci, depend on their brand reputation to make a sale. While they may offer well-constructed shoes, the overall quality may not be suitable for you.

When you are taking a look at the lower-end of shoe prices, quality can vary significantly. To help you with your shoe shopping, here are a few guidelines to follow:

Soles: having real, genuine leather on the bottom of your shoe can improve longevity and comfort. When you’re browsing through high-cost shoes, be sure to check the material the sole is made of. Sometimes, shoe companies will use a synthetic leather or create a rubber material that seems like leather. These lower quality materials don’t last as long.
Stitching: don’t be fooled. There is a difference between how low-cost shoes and high-cost shoes are bound together. Shoes at a high price point will be delicately stitched together and often use a detailed pattern that is striking and aesthetic. Lower priced shoes tend to have each piece glued together with an illusion of stitching. This can lead to your shoes falling to pieces before the end of their first year.
Details: in the lower priced shoe range, you’ll find many shoe companies attempting to mask the markings of high-priced shoes. Instead of hand detailed designs in genuine leather shoes, you’ll find factory machine presses which may have details and miss prints in the final design. A common method of faking design is through injection molding which reduces the appeal of a shoe, especially for lawyers.
Leather Quality: avoid cheap leather shoes. It can be tempting for a lawyer to pick a cheap pair of shoes, especially if you’re on a tight budget. However, the factories in China producing many of the shoes being sold today are using cheap scraps of leather and gluing them together to produce high yields. In addition, these shoes will use lower quality, harder leather that will likely be stained to cover any imperfections. Over time, this kind of leather will crease and the imperfections will begin to shine through. Quality leather is often soft and develops a beautiful patina as it ages.

Universal Style

You don’t need a closet full of shoes to be a well-dressed lawyer. Keeping a simple, clean, yet classic appearance is all you need when heading to the office. To achieve that, all you need is black.

Black shoes are a universal standard when it comes to matching your suits to your footwear. It goes with everything and you won’t ever have to worry whether your new suit jacket, whether it is navy, charcoal, or black, will match your shoes.

One thing to keep in mind is that black won’t work with bright colored outfits. However, you are likely not going to be wearing a bright blue jacket into the courtrooms.

Because black shoes are the norm in the business world, it will be easy to find a pair of shoes that fits your budget.

5 Recommended Shoes for Lawyers

If you’re not sure which brands or styles you like, here are five recommendations to guide your shoe shopping.

Paul Evans Brando Semi-Brogue Oxford

While coming in at a high price, the Brando Semi-Brogue Oxford by Paul Evans offers a professional looking shoe for lawyers. It has a classic style with upper lacing and full-grain Italian leather. The Brogue pattern ingrained in the letter is what makes these shoes shine.

Florsheim Castellano Wingtip

The Chicago based company designing these shoes have been around since 1892. Not only do they offer a beautifully crafted for but it also comes at a fair price. If you’re looking for something with a little more elegance, this is the shoe you want.

Plain Toe Derbys by Dquared2

Here’s a simple yet powerful black shoe lawyers can wear in any situation. The Plain Toe Derbys by Dsquared2 is made with genuine black leather and use a simple lace style to tie it all together.

To Boot New York Finn Chelsea Boots

These professional looking leather boots are great for a lawyer on the go. The leather has a burnished finish with a soft calfskin upper. This shoe delivers confidence in any suit your wear.

Allen Edmonds Verona II Italian Loafer

If you’re looking for something more comfortable and relaxed, having a pair of loafers is a great alternative style of shoe for lawyers. The Allen Edwards Verona II features calfskin Italian leather and silver accessories to accentuate the style.

by Bryan Mixon November 19, 2018 Ultimate Guides Leave a comment