Google confirms rolling out a broad core search algorithm

Google confirms rolling out a broad core search algorithm update earlier this week

Google has confirmed rumors that a search algorithm update took place on Monday. Some sites may have seen their rankings improve, while others may have seen negative or zero change.

Google has posted on Twitter that it released a “broad core algorithm update” this past Monday. Google said it “routinely” does updates “throughout the year” and referenced the communication from the previous core update.

Google explained that core search updates happen “several times per year” and that while “some sites may note drops or gains,” there is nothing specific a site can do to tweak its rankings around these updates. In general, Google says to continue to improve your overall site quality, and the next time Google runs these updates, hopefully, your website will be rewarded.

Google explained that “pages that were previously under-rewarded” would see a benefit from these core updates.

Here is the statement Google previously made about this type of update:

Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. Some are focused around specific improvements. Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely several times per year.

As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded.

There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well, other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.

How to Measure the Velocity of the Customer Journey

Dental Lab Marketing teams need to be able to show measurable results for the marketing function to be seen as an investment. Influencing the customer journey and shortening sales cycles is one way to achieve this. Most customer journey maps define stages and channels, but how can marketers measure their influence on those customers taking that journey through the funnel?

At DentalLabSupport, we create ways for marketers to understand the customer journey. We do this by tracking sales cycles and average velocity between stage transitions. These are indicators that content, events and other marketing touchpoints are driving prospects through the funnel faster.

These are also great indicators for planning, as well. In this blog post, we show how to approach and use customer journey data, namely velocity metrics.

Velocity as a Go-to-Market Performance Indicator

Implementing marketing attribution also adds dates to every touchpoint, including touchpoints where there is a stage transition. Knowing this we can derive the average number of days between stage transitions as a measure for velocity.

There are several uses for velocity data. Starting at a high level, if you’re a marketing leader, you want to understand performance across your different market segments. If this is the first time you’re seeing data like this, you can discover the customer journey in more detail, asking yourself whether this is what you expect.

If you’re entering a new market, measuring velocity gives you a baseline benchmark, and a great place to start when thinking about next year’s goals for that market. For example, if you want to invest in sales enablement for this new market, you’ll be able to track improvements in velocity.

If you’re tracking velocity across quarters or months, you can use it as an early warning system when important lead transitions have slowed. Lastly, if you are launching a campaign in a market, you can see whether that campaign correlates with faster velocity.

For more information, contact DentalLabSupport.com at 1.888.715.9099 or info@dentallabsupport.com

The 5 Types Of Direct Mail Campaigns

David H. Khalili, Founder of DentalLabSupport.com

Direct mail has been always been an essential marketing tool here at DentalLabSupport, and I suspect it will continue to be effective for a long time coming. In this post, we’ll explore why it’s so popular and how to take advantage of direct mail to increase marketing alignment with sales and more importantly, close more revenue.

Why is Direct Mail so Effective?

First of all, it stands out and makes a great impression. In the world of cold emails and auto-dialers, direct mail shows a high level of commitment (financially) and breaks through the noise. In other words, it gets noticed more than other marketing tactics.

Second, it scales linearly instead of with diminishing return like ads. In other words, the cost per box is the same as you send more, but for ads the next click costs more than the last one.

Finally, it aligns marketing with sales. Sales teams love direct mail. They see how it benefits them more than some other marketing channels and it’s much easier to integrate into sales stages and processes.

Why is Direct Mail Gaining Popularity?

In addition to being an effective marketing channel, it’s getting more popular because of increased interest in account-based marketing (ABM) and technologies like PFL that help marketers (including us at DentalLabSupport) scale direct mail.

Having a service and technology for direct mail has been crucially important at DentalLabSupport. Not only can you tap into existing expertise, but the technologies integrate deeply with LabCell CRM, an exclusive marketing software developed for dental labs, for automated sending, task follow up for sales, and simple tracking in attribution solutions.

Marketing attribution helps us measure the effectiveness of running ads, sending direct mail, and follow up outreach by sales teams all in one attribution model.

Another added benefit is that services like DLS provide better economies of scale for assembling and sending boxes. Internally, we wouldn’t be able to do this cost efficiently.

Five Ways to Take Advantage of Direct Mail

After a few years of experimentation and deep discussions with other marketing leaders, I’ve learned there are 5 distinct direct mail “plays”  and campaigns to execute. They are awareness, appointment, shareable, closer, and advocacy plays.

Awareness mailers are designed to make a positive first impression. The call to action is light (if it exists at all). Think of this as a billboard or TV ad. For example, we’re sending printed versions of our DLS magazine.

Appointment mailers, or sometimes called “meeting makers,” are the bread and butter of direct mail. These have strong call-to-actions, often times come with an incentive, and are used to convert warmer leads into opportunities. We’re sending chocolates along with an Amazon gift card.

Shareable mailers are designed to get more people involved in the deal and help you grow the number of champions at the receiving company. This can be something simple like a box of cupcakes or something clever like a popcorn machine for their office.

Closer mailers, or sometimes called “clutter busters,” are sent to the decision maker of the deal. Closer mailers can also be used to help accounts and opportunities that have stalled. These are highly branded and personalized. It can be something physical like a bottle of wine with a Forrester report on your product, or an experience like tickets to join you in a suite at a sporting event.

Advocacy mailers are for new customers. They are designed to help turn customers into advocates who spread your brand both internally at their companies and externally to others. We’re sending branded boxes with branded swag, a custom letter, and handouts for the champion to share with the rest of the marketing team.

Conclusion

If you haven’t experimented with direct mail or account-based marketing before, feel free to contact us to learn more.  DentalLabSupport.com 1.888.715.9099  info@dentallabsupport.com.

Dental Lab Marketing Strategy

David H. Khalili, DentalLabSupport.com

Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any dental laboratory. Without one, your efforts to attract customers are likely to be haphazard and inefficient.

The focus of your strategy should be making sure that your products and services meet customer needs and developing long-term and profitable relationships with those customers. To achieve this, you will need to create a flexible strategy that can respond to changes in customer perceptions and demand. It may also help you identify whole new markets that you can successfully target.

The purpose of your marketing strategy should be to identify and then communicate the benefits of your dental lab offering to your target market.

Once you have created and implemented your strategy, monitor its effectiveness and make any adjustments required to maintain its success.

This guide helps you identify which customers to focus on and your key objectives in reaching them. It explains what to include in your dental lab marketing strategy and how it can be used as the basis for effective action.

• Key elements of a successful marketing strategy
• Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
• Developing your marketing strategy
• Tips and pitfalls

KEY ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGY

One of the key elements of a successful marketing strategy is the acknowledgement that your existing and potential customers will fall into particular groups or segments, characterized by their "needs". Identifying these groups and their needs through market research, and then addressing them more successfully than your competitors, should be the focus of your strategy.

You can then create a marketing strategy that makes the most of your strengths and matches them to the needs of the customers you want to target. For example, if a particular group of customers is looking for quality first and foremost, then any marketing activity aimed at them should draw attention to the high quality service you can provide.

Once this has been completed, decide on the best marketing activity that will ensure your target market know about the products or services you offer, and why they meet their needs.

This could be achieved through various forms of advertising, exhibitions, public relations initiatives, Internet activity and by creating an effective "point of sale" strategy if you rely on others to actually sell your products. Limit your activities to those methods you think will work best, avoiding spreading your budget too thinly.

A key element often overlooked is that of monitoring and evaluating how effective your strategy has been. This control element not only helps you see how the strategy is performing in practice, it can also help inform your future marketing strategy. A simple device is to ask each new customer how they heard about your dental lab.

Once you have decided on your marketing strategy, draw up a marketing plan to set out how you plan to execute and evaluate the success of that strategy. The plan should be constantly reviewed so it can respond quickly to changes in customer needs and attitudes in your industry, and in the broader economic climate.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Your strategy must take account of how your dental lab' strengths and weaknesses will affect your marketing.

Begin your marketing strategy document with an honest and rigorous SWOT analysis, looking at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is a good idea to conduct some market research on your existing customers at this point, as it will help you to build a more honest picture of your reputation in the marketplace.

Strengths could include:

• personal and flexible customer service
• special features or benefits that your product offers
• specialist knowledge or skills

Weaknesses could include:

• limited financial resources
• lack of an established reputation
• inefficient accounting systems

Opportunities could include:

• increased demand from a particular market sector
• using the Internet to reach new markets
• new technologies that allow you to improve product quality

Threats could include:

• the emergence of a new competitor
• more sophisticated, attractive or cheaper versions of your product or service
• new legislation increasing your costs
• a downturn in the economy, reducing overall demand

Having done your analysis, you can then measure the potential effects each element may have on your marketing strategy.

For example, if new regulations will increase the cost of competing in a market where you're already weak, you might want to look for other opportunities. On the other hand, if you have a good reputation and your key competitor is struggling, the regulations might present the opportunity to push aggressively for new customers.

DEVELOPING YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

With an understanding of your dental lab's' internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats, you can develop a strategy that plays to your own strengths and matches them to the emerging opportunities. You can also identify your weaknesses and try to minimize them.

The next step is to draw up a detailed marketing plan that sets out the specific actions to put that strategy into practice.

Questions to ask when developing your strategy

• What changes are taking place in our dental lab environment? Are these opportunities or threats?
• What are our strengths and weaknesses?
• What do I want to achieve? Set clear, realistic objectives.
• What are customers looking for? What are their needs?
• Which customers are the most profitable?
• How will I target the right potential customers? Are there groups that I can target effectively?
• What's the best way of communicating with them?
• Could I improve my customer service? This can be a low-cost way of gaining a competitive advantage over rivals, keeping customers, boosting sales and building a good reputation.
• Could changing my products or services increase sales and profitability? Most products need to be continuously updated to maintain competitiveness.
• Could extending my product list or service provision meet existing customers' needs more effectively? Remember that selling to existing customers is generally more cost effective than continually trying to find new ones.
• How will I price my product or service? Although prices need to be competitive, most dental labs find that trying to compete on price alone is a poor strategy. What else are my customers interested in? Quality? Reliability? Efficiency? Value for money?
• What is the best way of distributing and selling my products?
• How can I best promote my products? Options might include advertising, direct marketing, exhibiting at trade fairs, PR or marketing on the web.
• How can I tell if my marketing is effective? Check how your customers find out about your dental lab. A small-scale trial can be a good way of testing a marketing strategy without committing to excessive costs.

TIPS AND PITFALLS

Before looking at new markets, think about how you can get the most out of your existing customer base - it's usually more economical and quicker than finding new customers.

Consider whether you can sell more to your existing customers or look at ways of improving the retention of key customers.

Focus on the market

Your marketing strategy document should:

• analyse the different needs of different groups of customers
• focus on a market niche where you can be the best
• aim to put most of your efforts into the 20 per cent of customers who provide 80 per cent of profits

Don't forget the follow-up

• Approach a third party for feedback about your strategy - they may be able to spot any gaps or weaknesses that you can't see.
• Put your marketing strategy into effect with a marketing plan that sets out the aims, actions, dates, costs, resources and effective selling programmes.
• Measure the effectiveness of what you do. Be prepared to change things that aren't working.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Making assumptions about what customers want.
• Ignoring the competition.
• Trying to compete on price alone.
• Relying on too few customers.
• Trying to grow too quickly.
• Becoming complacent about what you offer and failing to innovate.

5 Customer Retention Strategies That Don't Break the Bank

If your customer retention rate is low, then bringing it up should be your number one priority. Your business can only survive for so long by attracting first-time customers and letting them go afterwards. 

Here are some strategies to help you increase your customer retention rate: 

Find out why they're leaving 

The first step is always to find the source of the problem. If you can figure out why customers are leaving in the first place, then the rest of your job will be much easier. 

To do this, you can send surveys to past customers, read your reviews, and see if your business was mentioned in any blogs. There might be a really obvious reason why customers aren't coming back that you just aren't seeing. 

Prioritize your market segment over random customers

This strategy calls back to your lead generation campaign. In the business world, it's hard to say "no" to a customer, and while you shouldn't necessarily do that, you should definitely focus more on those in your market segment. 

If someone outside your market segment is interested in your products, the right answer isn't always to nurture the lead. These prospects sometimes cost more money than they're worth and are less likely to return. 

According to this recent Inc article, you should concentrate more on the customers you identified in your market segment: 

"The right customer is one you are prepared to serve -- in every sense. It is the one you are targeting -- not the customer who is targeting you. It means distinguishing capability from strategy. Capability is what you can do; strategy is about what makes sense for you to do."

These customers will find more utility in your products and services. They're more likely to return because you designed the customer journey explicitly for them. 

We're not telling you to turn down someone's business, but you should note that some leads are more valuable than others. 

Make payment an easy process

Here's a good one. Some people never return to a business because the payment process is too complicated. 

Imagine that. You've done everything right from your product development to your lead nurturing strategy. Yet something as simple as your site navigation is holding customers back. 

Try to minimize the number of links users have to click and the number of forms they have to fill in. Make payment as easy as picking a few options on a page and confirming the order. 

Add new products and services

This strategy is more involved, but will raise your retention rate to elite levels if it's already high. If customers are satisfied with your products and services but don't need refill orders, then you should add new ones to your lineup. 

They don't have to be big or intricate. They can just be accessories that enhance the customer experience. A good example is Apple and their wide array of accessories for their main products (laptops, phones, etc.). 

Stay organized 

Some businesses have a hard time retaining customers because they can't keep track of them. This is common for growing businesses that don't have the technology to organize their leads and customers. 

A simple solution here is to get customer relationship management software. CRM software is simple to use, so virtually all of your employees can have access to it. 

The software stores all information regarding customers from their email preferences to their order history. This makes it easier for you to know who you're dealing with and make a personalized offer to a returning customer. 

Email Marketing Campaign is Like Preparing for a Marathon

What's the most important thing when it comes to running a marathon? Maybe it's because we're marketers, but we'd say having a plan to guide your training and executing it would be #1 on the list. 

Visualizing Success

Whether you're planning on running a marathon or starting an email marketing campaign, it's normal for people to first think of the end results. Even though these come way later, visualizing the benefits is what draws us in in the first place. 

With proper planning, email marketing can be incredibly effective. This Business 2 Community article gives some insight into its potential ROI: 

"Reports have suggested that email marketing can yield as much as 3,800% ROI (Return-On-Investment) for businesses. This is not a figure to ignore, but it does allow us to answer the question of ‘why is it so effective’? Enewsletters are highly personalized and are supplying the customer with relevant information. If the customer has been thinking about buying and the email comes at the perfect time, they are more likely to make a purchase."

This assumes, however, that you have a good plan in place. 

What happens when you don't have a plan

Take a random guy with a slightly inflated ego off the street and tell him to run a marathon. Most likely, he'll try to keep up with more advanced runners and burn out well before he could have lasted had he run a slower place. 

Likewise, if you don't have a solid email marketing strategy, you'll never cover any ground. You'll just spin your wheels, never really engaging subscribers or converting leads. 

Planning your strategy

Coming up with a good strategy is half the battle. You have to understand your business, your target audience, and the platform, just like runners have to understand their bodies, their current fitness level, and the conditions in which they'll be running in. 

Testing your plan

After designing your strategy, the next most important step is to test it.  In the case of the marathon runner, this is when he would slowly build up his times by doing 5Ks, 10Ks, and then eventually half marathons. 

In the context of email marketing, there are a million things to test. This Marketing Land article, for example, says that the average read time is 11 seconds, so you should optimize your emails according to the fact:  

"Don’t overload your emails with endless walls of text. Given the average read time for an email is 11 seconds, you’ll lose your reader if you overload them with copy. Instead, create short, concise emails that whet the appetite of the reader and focus on one topic. Include all the details on the landing page that the reader will see after they click."

In your testing, you have to see how long it takes for people to scan your message. If it's over 11 seconds, then you need to condense your email. Otherwise, most users will just click away. 

Putting your plan into practice

Eventually, the time comes to either run the race or start your email campaign. Although some would think this is the hardest step, it's actually the easiest. You already have a bona fide strategy thanks to your planning and testing. Now you just have to put it into practice.

The aftermath

The aftermath takes us right back to where we got started. Except now you're not visualizing any success, now you're crossing the line and soaking the moment in. 

Everything is easier once you have a good email marketing campaign. Converting leads, increasing revenue, and advancing consumers through the buying process are all covered by your campaign. And just like preparing for a marathon is easier the second time around since you understand the process, running a second email campaign is a breeze. 

Proposed Tax Bill: What it Means for Your Dental Lab

Congress is moving quickly on a business tax reform package that will lower corporate tax rates in an effort to encourage investment and make America more attractive for jobs. Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have approved versions of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act."

There are important differences between the bill passed by the House and one approved in the Senate. Before any tax reform can become law, the two competing bills must be reconciled into a single piece of legislation, passed by both houses of Congress, and signed by the President. Republicans hope to enact legislation and send it to President Trump before Christmas. If approved, much of the new legislation would impact business beginning in 2018.

That makes it important to stay on top of developments and how tax reform will affect you as a business owner or entrepreneur. Here are some of the key provisions:

Tax rate structure for small businesses. Both the House and the Senate propose a new tax structure for “pass through" businesses. This includes sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations and most LLCs. Owners of pass through businesses report their business income on their personal tax return and pay tax at their personal income tax rates, which can be as high as 39.6 percent. The House and Senate bills have different pass-through features, but both versions have been endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business.

The House bill has a maximum 25% tax rate for pass through businesses. This won't affect the 85 percent of pass-through business owners who already pay a tax rate of 25 percent or less. But business owners in higher tax brackets will get a tax break.

The House bill has a few additional wrinkles for pass-through businesses:

• Business owners who actively work in their business will only get the 25 percent rate on 30 percent of their business income—the other 70 percent will be taxed at their normal individual rate. Passive investors, on the other hand, can take the 25 percent rate on all their pass-through income.
• People who own businesses that provide a service, including consultants, accountants and lawyers, aren't eligible for the 25 percent tax rate.
• Small business owners who make $150,000 or less ($75,000 for individual filers) will only pay a 9 percent tax rate on their first $75,000 of income ($37,500 for individual filers). This will be phased in between now and 2022.

The Senate bill allows pass-through business owners to deduct 23 percent of their business income, but the deduction would be phased out for people in professional service businesses earning more than $500,00 (for joint filers) or $250,000 (for individual filers). The deduction would expire in 2025.

Tax rate structure for C corporations. Both the House and Senate bills permanently reduce the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. However, under the Senate version, the tax reduction would not take effect until 2019. Rate reduction benefits all C-Corporations, large or small.

Expensing of capital investments. The House bill allows businesses to immediately write off the costs of investments in new depreciable property, excluding structures acquired after September 27, 2017 and before January 1, 2023. Under current law there is some expensing for certain types of business entities under Section 179.

Increased Section 179 limits. Section 179 of the tax code allows businesses to deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment and software in the year it is purchased. Currently, businesses can only deduct $500,000, of these expenses. The House bill would increase the limit to $5 million, while the Senate version would increase it to $1 million. This creates immediate expensing for business expenditures, reducing taxes paid in the year of investment instead of having to spread it out over many months.

Interest expense. For larger corporations and pass-through entities for tax years beginning after 2017, an entity's interest deduction would be limited to 30 percent of the business's adjusted taxable income under the both the House and Senate tax bills. Certain small businesses with average annual gross receipts for the prior three tax years of $25M or less would be excluded.

Entertainment expenses. Currently, business owners can deduct 50 percent of the money they spend on business meals and entertainment. Both the House and Senate propose eliminating the deduction for entertainment, but keeping the meal deduction.

The tax reform legislation is likely to evolve over the coming weeks. As a business owner, it's always important to be aware of changes that could impact your business. Contact your legislators if you want to make your voice heard during this historic process.