Cascade e-Commerce Solutions, Inc.

Every business owner knows that there are many things that are on their to-do list for their business, especially when it comes to their internet presence. They have to have an updated website, keep up with web maintenance, post to social media accounts, manage their online reputation, etc. It’s a lot. We know.

However, there’s one more thing that we think deserves to be on your to-do list: editing! It doesn’t seem like much, but it makes a big difference.

It is unprofessional to have an unedited website and business materials. We understand that grammar and editing is not everyone’s cup of tea. It doesn’t have to be in order to have edited writing for your business because you can easily hire someone within your budget to do it for you. If you want your company to be seen as a true contender in the competition for your potential customers’ business, you will need to have all your materials edited. Any errors in your writing make your company look inexperienced.

A poorly edited website is not only distracting but also not accessible for people who use text readers. If any words are misspelled or the grammar is faulty, the text reader that helps people navigate your website can’t do its job properly, and people will leave your site. It is also not accessible for people who are translating your website into a language they are more comfortable reading. Their translator can not fix sentences before translating. It will translate all the issues directly, making it unintelligible in the other language.

Another reason why having an edited website is key to your company’s success is for search results reasons. Google is less likely to properly index your website’s keyword phrases for search results if your keywords are misspelled. While Google offers autocorrect options to searchers, Google’s algorithms are set to index the well-written properly spelled pages than those that have spelling errors. As you can guess, the less correct keywords are in your website, the lower your company will appear on the search results list when people search for topics related to your company. This can be quite detrimental for your business. The less people find your company in search results, the less people buy your products or services.

We often hear that someone doesn’t want to have a well edited website because they think it sounds friendlier and more personable if it’s unedited. However, there’s a difference between using colloquial language (informal, conversational language) and having unedited writing. There are ways of having perfectly edited writing that is still friendly and down-to-earth.

If you aren’t confident in your editing abilities, don’t have the time to edit, or want a second opinion on the edits you have already made, we are happy to help you! We can proofread, edit, and revise your website and any written materials that your company has. We can also implement any of the edits and revisions to your website that we’ve recommended so that you can use your time on the more important things on your to-do list. Just contact us at info@4cesi.com.

As most businesses are experiencing low numbers right now, they’re struggling to figure out what to do to strengthen their company during this difficult time. If you’re looking for something to boost your business, consider creating or revamping a Twitter account.

Even though Twitter is not a new social platform and has been around since 2006, it is still one of the best platforms for businesses to connect with people on a personal level. It’s one of the best ways to have conversations with prospective clients and answer their questions. It has fast-paced, honest, and oftentimes comedic interactions that, if done right, lead to a reputation that attracts all types of people to your business.

Twitter is possibly the best platform to expand your client base. The people who use Twitter are extremely diverse, especially compared to users of different social media platforms. They’re all different ages, genders, etcetera and are from all around the world.

Another benefit to Twitter is the camaraderie between other businesses. If you’ve been looking for other businesses to refer your clients to for work that your business doesn’t do, you can use Twitter to communicate with other businesses easily and make connections to help each other out. This connection in the business community is especially important as we all strive to increase industry flow during this difficult time.

As long as a business’ tweets are witty and meaningful, a wide range of people will start interacting with them. They will bring in business and refer your company to their friends. Twitter is the place to find new business, interact in the business world, and establish your business as a contributor to its community.

If you’re ready to boost your business through Twitter but you’re not sure you have the time to set an account up and run it, email or call us at CeSI and we’ll do all the work for you! We can simply create a business account for you and get you started or we can do as much as posting tweets for your business as frequently as you would like. Also, if you would just like to learn more about best practices for Twitter, we can teach you!

If you would like to learn more about using Twitter for your business, read their Twitter Business basics guide.

When it comes to making your mark in the social media world, consider making your business “Instagrammable.”

Because Instagram is all about the looks, being Instagrammable means looking iconic, photogenic, likable, and share-worthy. Having spaces inside or outside of your business that inspire people to pull out their phones to take a picture is a great way to give your business a presence in social media and attract more customers.

To make the Instagramable spaces in your business, consider what makes your company unique and capture that in the form of a backdrop or art piece somewhere visible to your clients and customers.

An example of a business that has an Instagrammable exterior is the colorful and beachy Des Moines Doghouse.

Seattle Chocolate Company has created Instagrammable spaces both outdoors and indoors. From the street, people can see a vibrant, large-scale wall mural. Inside, the factory as a whole is picture-perfect and has multiple walls that make great backdrops for pictures. See our office administrator, Holli, featured below. With the entire wall covered in truffles, who wouldn’t want to get a picture and share it with their friends?

Another business that has created Instagrammable spaces using its products is diecutstickers.com. In the photo below, Owner Daniel Diederichs and General Manager Jerry Perschke are standing in front of one of two walls that are covered by small stickers the company has created for its clients. These sticker walls not only help make them Instagrammable, but also help them support their clients’ brands. In addition to these two walls, there are walls that are covered with large-scale, landscape stickers.

These walls don’t just make for great backdrops for photos! They also show clients how large and impressive diecutstickers.com’s stickers can be. In addition, there are walls in staff offices and the conference room that have inspirational graphics that make thinking of a caption for an Insta pic really easy. Displaying the range of their work (from small to large-scale) in this way prompts clients to snap selfies during a tour of the state-of-the-art facility.

For businesses looking for clever ways to get more interaction in social media, we recommend finding or creating a space in your business where people will want to take pictures. Whether it is a statue, a fun wall, or a unique product, having something aesthetic in your business will lead people to stop, look, snap a picture, and post. This is a natural way to create brand advocates and people who will market your business for you.

If you would like to brainstorm specific ways to make your business more Instagrammable, please feel free to contact info@4cesi.com.

Reputation Management is the process of responding to reviews expressed publicly by customers and the media. Historically this work was performed by public relations professionals and was communicated through print, radio, and television.(1)

The goal of reputation management is to maintain a positive image for a business or organization.

How has reputation management changed?

Reputation management has largely moved online since the development of online review platforms such as those available in Google, Yelp, Angie’s List, Facebook, and other industry specific online resources such as Houzz. Today businesses and online review platforms actively encourage people to leave reviews after interactions with a business. Invitations to review a business are posted on websites and through emails containing purchase receipts, invoices, and surveys.

As a result of these frequent reminders, more customers leave a review after making a purchase and prospective customers have learned to read at least three online reviews before interacting with a business.

The key to building a good reputation is to read and respond to reviews, ratings, check-ins, photos, and recommendations. Responses should be timely, respectful, and maintain a consistent voice. Product and service successes can be acknowledged and celebrated subtly, but business errors and product failures should also be acknowledged and remedied. Explanations of failures and remedies should be clear, concise, and non-confrontational. If an explanation is too wordy, people will perceive a response as being defensive; if it is too curt, people will perceive this as being dismissive.

Science + Art

There is science, as well as art, to solid responses to customer reviews and interactions. Some brands have perfected both and successfully developed a following for their responses to customer reviews. For example, people leave reviews for Wendy’s because they enjoy reading the funny, almost snarky responses that Wendy’s reputation management professionals have developed(2), while Amazon uses ratings and reviews to determine which products and manufacturers to include in its listings(3).

Even small businesses can employ experienced Reputation Management professionals. If you would like a consultation, please call us at 206-244-9092 or you can email elizabeth@4cesi.com.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management
2 https://www.fastcompany.com/90330377/behind-wendys-epic-social-strategy
3 https://www.forbes.com/sites/kirimasters/2018/05/31/4-ways-brands-can-get-more-amazon-product-reviews-without-breaking-the-rules/#7c3d220c4bb4

There are essentially two options for supporting social media posting, engagement, and reputation management. One option is to assign an employee the responsibility for posting, monitoring, and engaging with customers through social media. The other is to engage a contractor to do this work.

The benefits of having an employee support social media efforts:

• An employee can make instantaneous posts. If you want a post about a certain product/service/event posted that very same-day, an employee who is currently on site can post it as it occurs.
• Your employee already knows your business’s culture and operational procedures and can respond quickly to check-ins, comments, questions and reviews using personal knowledge of the business.

The benefits of contracting with a digital marketing professional:

• A professional already has the skill set to create engaging, well-written, and edited content.
• A professional can leverage experience gained through providing social support for other businesses and apply it to the needs of your business. They know what works in each platform.
• A professional will be less likely to rush and make misstatements, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors.
• A professional has more experience in measuring and reporting results so that leadership can make informed decisions regarding the return on investment of supporting each social platform

The cons of having an employee perform the work:

• Most employees are already fully employed with other tasks. Adding this work to their plate is likely to cause stress as priorities must be more closely managed and this can produce less than optimum results in either their existing work or this new work.
• Not all employees have the skill set to write and edit engaging posts and short tweets, take good photos, and respond to customers who may be less than happy. While many employees know how to use social media as a consumer, most do not have experience using social platform tools that are only available to businesses.
• Employees are more likely to use internal language and acronyms and forget to explain things at a lay level that is more accessible to the public.
  Some employees are too close to the processes to be able to handle customers who use social media to denigrate the business. This can result in responses that are too detailed and sound defensive and less professional.
• The cost for building and maintaining skills in posting and managing engagement in each platform is fully borne by your business.

The cons of having a contractor perform the work:

• Requires a separate contract.
• It takes time for the contractor to learn the business’ culture, language, and procedures.
• Still requires an employee of the business to provide some direction, help with scheduling, and overseeing the contractor.

Social media marketing can have a high return on investment. It’s worth having someone do it right. You’ll see the difference it makes in reach, engagement, and conversions.

If you believe you have the right person in-house with sufficient capacity to do more, we can help that employee improve your social media work! We will gladly train your employee(s) to post specifically for your company and how to respond to check-ins, comments, and reviews in social media.

If you do not yet have that employee, we are happy to become part of your marketing team and staff your social media support needs until your business grows to the point that you are ready to bring the work in-house.