Digital Marketing Blog | Read Out-Smarts' Marketing Blog

Hands from above painting "go green" on a piece of paper

Green Marketing or Just Greenwashing? How to Get it Right

You’re a savvy business owner. You know people love to buy from businesses that care about the environment. So, you push some positive environmental messaging in your marketing but are hit with backlash!

People claim you’re greenwashing (making false or inaccurate environmental claims), so you go into crisis management mode to back up your claims and restore your ethical reputation.

From a marketing perspective, it can be a great strategy to discuss your ESG values, but it must be done honestly and ethically to avoid coming off as inauthentic or untruthful.

Continue reading →

Giveaway – Win a Free SEO Audit

To celebrate summer and our LOVE of SEO. We are excited to announce that we are giving away a FREE SEO audit to one lucky winner (valued at over $3,000).

Our Search Engine Optimization audit includes:

We take a close look at your keywords, their visibility in the search engines and how you rank
We assess on-page factors: the use of META titles and descriptions and other important factors
We determine the organic traffic your website is currently attracting, including through local search
We perform a full technical SEO audit for broken links and other errors that might impact indexing, crawlability, responsiveness and speed

Once we complete the audit, we put together and present a report that is easy for you to understand. The audit report includes guidance through the results of your audit + an SEO roadmap strategy of recommended next steps.

Continue reading →

Local Search Marketing – Google My Business Optimization – The Right Way!

Local search marketing is vital for every business to get found on Google by potential customers in their community. When it comes to being discovered in the pool of similar businesses, the directory formerly known as Google My Business and now called Google Business Profile (GBP) is essential. Setting up and optimizing GBP properly is key to success. This post will step you through getting set up the right way.

Continue reading →

Business Blog Tips: Debunking Blogging Myths

People will spend an average of 7 minutes reading a blog post on your website if the content is good. Blogging is becoming one of the best ways to show your company’s unique expertise when done as part of a longer-term marketing and content strategy to attract and retain customers. Ready for some expert business blog tips?

82% of marketers actively use content marketing formats like blogging for their company, and over half say it’s an effective strategy. Those who don’t get successful long-term ROI from blogging are likely missing some key elements of its design and execution.

In this article, we will debunk some common misconceptions you may have about blogging for your company, and share some business blog tips. We hope it inspires you to start or update your online marketing strategy to include blogging.

Continue reading →

Person wearing blue "volunteer" shirt holding up a small globe

ESG Marketing: How To Do It Right

You know the importance of messaging. Get it wrong, and your business could fail. Get it right, and your company can see success. If you have an environmental, social, or governance (ESG) message to share, this must be communicated in the right way if you want it to benefit your business and your sustainability values.

Here’s what you need to know about ESG marketing strategies for your sustainably-minded business.

What is ESG marketing?

ESG stands for:

Environmental: This is how your company actively reduces or eliminates waste or lowers carbon emissions.
Social: This is about your reputation, the relationships between other companies and organizations, and your internal inclusion and diversity values.
Governance: These are the internal practices, controls, and procedures that oversee and govern the business.

Continue reading →