An incredible amount of money is spent on online advertising each year. In fact, about 90% of Google’s $89.5 billion revenue in 2016 was generated from advertising. That number baffles me. Companies are paying over $30 for a single click on their ad, with no guarantee that a new customer will result from that click.

If you've watched much television over the last couple of years, then, like many people you may have become hooked by the hard-drinking, womanizing antics of the ad men in Mad Men. The world of big brand advertising exudes a certain enticing glamour.

Think about the last time you were going out for dinner and wanted to try a new restaurant. Why did you choose that restaurant? If you are like most people, you probably searched online for various reviews before picking the restaurant with good to great feedback from customers.

One of the most common questions we get asked by clients is, "What's the most effective marketing technique that’ll get me leads?" Unfortunately, the question is impossible to answer. It assumes that there is one technique that will turn someone who has never heard of your business into a paying customer.

You know that your customers and prospects are on social media, but you’re not so sure how to translate this into increased sales for your business. Maybe you’ve tried running some ads yourself on Facebook and failed, or you don’t even know where to start with Using Social Media for Sales.

You’ve made it! You’ve finally grown your business enough to the point where you have both sales reps and one or a few people coordinating your marketing efforts. In the beginning, it was only you, wearing all the hats, which was crazy but you also had visibility into everything.

The sales game has changed. Nowadays, sales’ role is more than just to “close the deal” as fast as possible. It’s about nurturing and understanding what your prospects want and need in order to build a good relationship, provide value, and ultimately ensure a good fit over the long-run.

Online advertising is a tried-and-tested method of creating brand awareness, generating leads, and bringing in sales. However, there have been many changes in recent years, with the rise of ad blockers, stricter algorithms on social networks like Facebook, and an increase in privacy awareness that limits targeting.

For almost any business, customer service is something that has to be perfect; indeed many go so far as to implement advanced solutions all in the name of differentiation. Sometimes, however, it’s really just the basic things that set your customer service apart.

Looking back at Part 3 of The Guide to Getting More Out of Pronto, I might have spent too much time discussing advertising. Personally, I’m not a big fan of AdWords, but I like the ideas behind retargeting and I love Facebook’s simplicity. In general, you don’t need a huge ad budget to have a successful Internet presence, and ideally, your ads should simply supplement the traffic you get naturally via inbound sources.

Previously, we talked about how our Business Listing Management program can have a big impact on the success of your local SEO efforts. It's a seriously great program, and it’s always the first place to turn to when a client is struggling with SEO or when someone just wants more traffic.

From time to time, we get questions like: “Things are going well, but what can we do to perform even better?” Or, “Do you have any suggestions on how we can beef up our marketing?” Or even just, “Now what?”

These are tough questions to answer because they require looking at larger marketing ideas.