Category: Featured

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | March 15, 2020

In the past 24 hours, I’ve seen photos of empty restaurants, vacant boutiques and long lines for toilet paper. Images that are a stark contrast with a normal Friday night.

Social distancing should prove to reduce the effects of the virus on human illness and mortality rates, however many small businesses may not be able to withstand the impact of consumers distancing themselves from venues that are dependent on crowds, fans, and even worshipers.

So what can small businesses do to weather this unprecedented event?

Move to Virtual

Sales managers often rely on visiting customers at their place of work. That may not be available to them now. Instead of rescheduling your meeting for weeks into the future, consider scheduling it as an online meeting. Our favorite tool for this is called Zoom. It’s really affordable and super reliable. Google has also put some help out there for businesses by offering their enterprise meeting tools FOR FREE

Shift your Sales Strategy to Online

NIKE just informed us that they are closing 100+ of their retail stores for good. Why you ask? Because they understand that the strength of their brand will force those who want/need to wear their shoes will be able to find them online. All the sales without any social interactions to hold back sales. Win-Win. (or, not… that’s a conversation for another day)

Chinese companies in Wuhan Province were forced to confront the reality of coronavirus shutdowns well before most American companies. As storefronts shuttered their doors and workers practiced social distancing, savvy business owners shifted their sales strategy to avoid heavy losses.

The Wuhan-based cosmetics company Lin Qingxuan closed 40% of its stores — but the brand’s 100+ beauty advisors took to digital platforms like WeChat to engage customers virtually and increase online sales. “As a result, its sales in Wuhan achieved 200% growth compared to the prior year’s sales,” writes Harvard Business Review.

If you’re closing your store, find ways to keep your employees earning a paycheck by selling your products on social media, putting your email list to good use or using a video tool to reach new leads.

How quickly can an eCommerce website be setup?

Wix and Squarespace both have great and inexpensive web development portals to sell merchandise. For the time being, it may be best to try your hand at setting up a virtual store for your products.

Not at all technical, and want someone else to do this? Our web development team has set up online eCommerce websites in 48 hours or less. If you have a strong social media presence, you can drop links to your new eCommerce site and start selling to them very quickly.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | March 13, 2020

Distributed to clients (past and present) 3/13/2020 

We know that organizations and individuals around the world depend on Bash Foo to ensure that their websites, email, ad campaigns, and digital marketing are all available to serve up experiences for millions of visitors. I wanted to send you a personal note to let you know how Bash Foo is dealing with the Coronavirus emergency.

First, the health and safety of our employees and customers is our top priority. We have implemented several sensible policies to this end, including encouraging employees that regularly work in our offices to instead work from home. Because Bash Foo is inherently a distributed agency, this emergency will have no significant impact on our operations. Our project, support, and technical teams will remain fully operational and can do their jobs entirely remotely, as needed.

Second, we are tracking Internet usage patterns globally. As more people work from home, and sales plans quickly migrate from convention centers and large meeting rooms into online Zoom meetings and email drip campaigns, peak traffic in impacted regions has increased, on average, approximately 10%. In Italy, which has imposed a nationwide quarantine, peak Internet traffic is up 30%. We estimate your website will see an increase in traffic of 15-20% over the next four weeks.

Traffic patterns have also shifted, so peak traffic is occurring earlier in the day in impacted regions. None of these traffic spikes raise any concern for us. Our webservers and digital networks are powerfully redundant and ready for the task at hand.

Finally, we recognize that this emergency has put a strain on the infrastructure of small businesses around the world as more employees work from home. Marketing plans created months ago may now be in play, but you may not have the ability to execute them, thanks to the new quarantine rules in your state or country.

I am making myself personally available, as well as our entire team during this time, so that whatever plans you had that changed thanks to the Coronavirus can continue to be executed with precision and excellence. While your marketing team may be struggling to deal with these emergency changes in life, our team is uniquely situated to assist them.

The healthy functioning of our economy depends on work continuing to get done, even as people need to do that work remotely. If Bash Foo can do anything to help ensure that happens, I believe we must do so.

Thank you for being a Bash Foo customer. These are challenging times, but I want you to know that we stand ready to help; however we can. We understand the critical role we play in the functioning of your marketing efforts, and we are continually humbled by the trust you place in us.

Together, we can get through this.

Mike McDermott
President and Founder, Bash Foo

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | March 10, 2020

Google Ad campaigns allow you to raise awareness about your business, target people who are already searching for exactly the keywords you cover and expand your reach. In spite of its many benefits, however, many businesses choose to forego Google Ad campaigns–or perhaps to put them off for an undefined “later.” The trouble is, you cannot benefit from a campaign you never create.

Is it time for a Google Ad campaign for your business? Consider these key signs.

1. You aren’t bringing in search traffic for the right keywords.

Creating an SEO-optimized website includes ensuring that your website brings in search traffic for the keywords that are most important for your business. Unfortunately, bringing your website up to the top page of those rankings can take time. If you’ve noticed that you aren’t bringing in search traffic for the keywords you most need to see traffic for on your website, running a Google Ad campaign can help increase your website’s overall visibility–including visibility for specific keywords. That ad campaign can also benefit your usual SEO, since the more visitors come to your website and stay on it, showing that you offer quality content.

2. You’re not targeting your advertisements.

Google Ads allows for highly targeted advertisements that will go straight to the audience you choose. Instead of casting out a broad net with a traditional advertisement, Google Ads allows you to send your advertisement directly to people who are already searching for that specific keyword. Based on your keyword research and understanding of the ad funnel, you can even target people who are at specific stages of the buyer’s journey, designing advertisements that will reach out, answer their questions, and help bring them into your funnel to complete that journey.

If you’re a local business, you can also benefit from Google Ads. You can narrow your targeting to people in a specific geographic region, including searchers using specific geographic search terms or those using the “near me” term.

3. You’re ready to expand your business.

When you create advertisements, you’re looking for opportunities to expand your business: to bring more traffic to your website. If you’re looking to expand your business, increasing your search traffic is a great way to bring in more leads and new business. Test your Google Ad campaigns and see how effectively they bring in the traffic you need–and what percentage of that traffic is new traffic.

Build your future ad campaigns based on these statistics and what they tell you about people coming into your business. As you decide to grow and expand your business, you’ll find that Google Ads campaigns are a great way to accomplish that expansion, from increasing awareness about the latest products you’re ready to offer to expand into new geographic areas. If you’ve recently changed the location of your business, a Google Ads campaign can also help new customers find you.

4. You’re looking for a budget-friendly way to launch a new marketing campaign.

The keywords you choose to target in your Google Ad campaign will determine the expense associated with your campaign. Some high-priority keywords may have a higher price tag than others. You can, however, choose the funds you want to put into your ad campaign. You may have a relatively low budget to work with, or you may have a higher marketing budget that will allow you to target a wide range of potential customers who are already looking for information related to businesses like yours.

Once upon a time, Google Ads campaigns were considered a more expensive form of advertising. As they’ve improved, however, many people have found that they can find a Google Ads solution within their budget. Even if you’re on a budget for your marketing campaign, you can still make the most of it!

5. You want fast results.

When you’re trying to bring new leads–and potentially new business–to your website, you may want fast results that will help you immediately start building your profits. Not every type of ad campaign will make that possible. Instead of relying on older, slower methods, including trying to build SEO through website content, consider the benefits of a Google Ad campaign. In some cases, traffic to your website can jump within a matter of hours. Many business owners also discover that their websites make a faster rise through search rankings when using paid Google Ads over free SEO tactics alone.

6. You want to build greater awareness of your brand.

Brand awareness helps guide many of the decisions customers make. If they’re considering making a purchase in the industry, they’re more likely to choose a brand they recognize one that has presented information they trust in the past or that has helped guide them through the earlier stages of the buyer’s journey. Through your Google Ad campaigns, you can build greater awareness of your brand even for customers who don’t click on that link and visit your website. Customers may also show a higher degree of trust for brands that appear in ads or Google’s recommended results.

7. You’ve noticed overall traffic to your website is decreasing.

Your website is like a digital storefront: it’s an opportunity for customers to visit your brand, check out the products you have to offer, and consider whether they want to make a purchase. If customers aren’t visiting your website, they’re less likely to make those important buying choices. If you’ve noticed a decrease in your overall website traffic, a paid Google Ads campaign can help bring in fresh, new traffic and raise awareness of everything your brand has to offer, which can, in turn, increase your sales.

Are you ready to launch a Google Ad campaign that will help grow your business and expand awareness of everything you have to offer? Do you need help designing an advertising strategy that meets your needs, created by a Google Partner? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you reach your goals.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | March 5, 2020

A native ad appears to be a natural part of the user’s feed or part of the site’s normal flow of content suggestions. You’ve seen them everywhere; on Facebook, in Twitter feeds, Google search results, even embedded in blog posts. Some are so smooth and well designed that users hardly realize they are being advertised to. Native advertising creates a seamless user experience that allows users to view the content without the usual no-promo bias we all put up when we think we’re seeing a commercial.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | January 20, 2020

Automated marketing is a great way to streamline your marketing department and make sure that you can expand your reach and your customer base. In some cases, however, so-called automated marketing can take up a great deal more time than you think. Are you aware of how long your automated marketing tasks really take–and of where your time drains are? Consider how these strategies can help you become more aware of where you’re wasting time in your day–and how to reclaim it.

1. Take a look at how long you spend on miscellaneous tasks.

In many cases, miscellaneous tasks–those not really related to any specific goal or marketing campaign–can leave you scratching your head, wondering where the time has gone. To help you better keep track of those miscellaneous tasks, make a note of those tasks as you complete them throughout the day. For several weeks, keep track of how much of your time each day is spent on those tasks, whether it’s managing your email lists or sorting through and updating existing content. You may want to list the specific tasks you take care of on a regular basis and consider how those impact your overall campaign.

2. Try a time tracking app.

A time tracking app will automate the process of keeping up with what you’re doing every day. It’s all too easy to lose track of what you’re really doing during the day, whether it’s spending a little too long at the water cooler or dealing with those miscellaneous tasks related to your marketing automation processes. A time tracking app can make it easier to keep up with what you’ve really done during the day, including:

• Harvest
• Toggl
• Time Doctor

Time tracking apps can keep up with what you’re doing on your devices throughout the day. They can let you know which programs and apps you use the most often, which projects you’ve spent the most time on, and where your time drains might be. As you use these apps, you’ll often discover that your productivity goes up because you can keep up with your actual time usage.

3. Keep up with your transitions. 

Transitioning from one task to the next can take up more of your time than you think throughout the day. Transitions between one job and another can transform your productivity. An effective transition may include taking a 5 to 10 minute break between tasks to help clear your mind and make it easier for you to focus on the new activity. Spending too much time on transitions, however, can completely destroy your productive flow throughout the day. If you have many transitions in your daily task list, including handling those important marketing automation tasks, you may need to group similar activities together to make it easier to take care of them.

4. Note how interruptions impact your flow.

Simply experiencing distraction in the middle of a task can, in some tasks, take much more time than you think: it can take as much as 25 minutes to fully return your focus to the task you were taking care of before the distraction. Often, distraction begets distraction: when you walk or click away to take care of one distraction, you find other things that need your attention. Even though some of your marketing tasks, including emails and social media posts, may occur automatically, you may need to take care of other things on your own: answering customer comments and emails or posting fresh content about recent industry events, for example. Keep an eye on how those interruptions impact the daily flow of your work–and how much time they take away from your other tasks.

Improving Your Time Management Skills

As you track your time more effectively, including noting how interruptions and distractions impact your ability to complete your job responsibilities, you may discover that many of your so-called simple work responsibilities take a considerably longer portion of your day than you initially thought. Do you need to improve your time management skills to make it easier to handle all of the tasks on your marketing agenda? Consider some of these strategies.

1. Minimize Interruptions

Take a look at the interruptions that are most likely to spend your day spinning off-course, including the ones that are most likely to result in excess distraction. You may need to turn off your phone or ignore your emails while you’re working on other tasks, especially tasks that require a great deal of attention.

2. Set a Timer for Transitions

When you know there’s a transition coming, set a timer. You can take five to ten minutes to refocus and get ready for the new task, but don’t allow those transitions to drag out for too long. Instead, get back to work as soon as possible.

3. Schedule Handling Marketing Automation Tasks

Your marketing might be automated, but there are many tasks you’ll need to take care of on your own. You will, for example, need to create the social media posts you have scheduled. You’ll need to write the emails that are part of your automated marketing processes. Once those tools have been created, they’ll be posted automatically–but in the meantime, you have to create them. Around the holidays, during new sales, or when you take on new products or services, you may need to change or review your current content and put together new content. As you develop a better idea of how long it will take you to take care of those tasks, you can work them into your schedule for the day so that you aren’t left scrambling to complete everything on your list.

As a marketing professional, time management is essential. Even the processes you automate require your time, energy, and attention, whether you’re creating those processes, creating the content that goes into them, or reviewing your content to ensure that it meets your needs. Learning how to manage your time effectively can help propel you to greater marketing success and remove a great deal of stress from your day. Want to learn more about how automation can help? Contact us today.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | January 16, 2020

“You say it’s your birthday. It’s my birthday too, yeah”

– The Beatles

Customer birthdays are a fantastic time for marketers. It would be our favorite time of year, but customer birthdays happen once a year all year long. Birthdays are a time to celebrate with your customer. On our birthdays, we expect to get presents and an abundance of fun opportunities to choose from. Many people spend time with friends or family and treat themselves to a few special birthday reward. This is the perfect time to offer your customers a gift they will love, one that benefits everyone involved.

Birthday Demand Generation

In the business of demand generation, birthdays are a fantastic example of using desire and positive sentiment to create a strong incentive to buy. Customers want to treat themselves to something good, and a special deal or discount on their birthday becomes a desire to take advantage of every good birthday opportunity. In other words, you have generated new and enthusiastic demand in your customer to accept their birthday gift and buy something.

Birthday deals, discounts, and special package offers are a hallmark of marketing existing long before the internet. Consider the Birthday Song tradition at family restaurants where birthdays are often celebrated with a nice meal out.  It’s nice to get a little party from the restaurant and maybe a free piece of cake. Birthday marketing handled with automation can offer that same warm feeling with an even more personalized birthday gift from your brand. Wishing your customers a happy birthday with discounts and bonuses made just for them.

Today, we’re here to share a few smart tips on demand-generating an awesome birthday message for each of your customers and loyalty club members.

Detailed Account Profiles

Your customers are the best possible source of birthday information about them. You can catch the birthday during registration, but the real trick is also knowing your customer’s favorite color, brand, and the products on their wishlist. The more you know about your customer, the more personalized and motivating your birthday gifts can be.

The best way to do this is with detailed account profiles. Make it possible and rewarding for customers to personalize their account profiles. Set the background to their favorite color, pick a few favorites, and start a wishlist. From there, each customer’s shopping habits can help you shape their preferences and desires.

AI-Driven Gift Selection

Personalized gifting is one of the superpowers of modern business with the help of business AI analysis. Set an algorithm to calculate what a customer will want in the future based on their shopping history and any personal information they’ve chosen to share. This is a task that takes time and effort to do by hand, but a computer can generate a potentially great birthday gift for any customer at any time.

This is true no matter what your business sells. If you sell carpets, an AI can pick out the colors and patterns each customer likes best based on previous choices or current set preferences. If you sell bedding, your AI will choose the fabrics, colors, bed sizes, and accessories based on things your customer has bought in the past.

You can generate one or several different gift options for your birthday customers with this AI-generated or algorithm-driven method.

Birthday Month and Day

For most birthday deals, the opportunity lasts longer than the actual day. You can’t guarantee that a customer will log in on their birthday, check their email, or choose to buy. So widen the net. Offer a special birthday-month discount where customers can consider the opportunity all month and finally treat themselves before or even after their birthdays. Make sure you are targeting your customers with an understanding of where they are most likely to buy.

You can then pair this with a more targeted offer on the special day itself. This way, your customer gets to celebrate their upcoming birthday and get your birthday wishes. A month-long birthday discount means customer’s birthday-week schedules don’t have to adhere to treat themselves to your gift.

Birthday Discounts, Packages, and Free Gifts

There are several different ways to offer birthday rewards and gifts to your customers. Discounts are the most common method, and often appreciated for customers treating themselves on their birthday. A discount can be the perfect opportunity to get a special desired item at a low cost. Your suggestion could be anything, and as long as it’s something the customer really wants, they may well decide to take up the opportunity.

Birthday Package Deals

Package deals are another way that some brands send birthday wishes. Gift baskets of any composition can be a special reward for someone shopping on their birthday week. A package of items that you know they’ll want is incredibly tempting. Especially if it also comes in their favorite color. You can make specific product sets available at a single discounted price or you can make an entire category of items available for a discounted selection.

In-the-Box Birthday Gift

And if they do make a birthday purchase, consider throwing in a little something extra, and hint that you will do so before the purchase is complete. The temptation of a free birthday surprise is often enough to drive curious birthday shoppers to fully complete their purchase. Birthday gifts and in-the-box surprises are always appreciated to make your birthday offer a real gift to the customer. This might be as simple as a chocolate bar or a personalized special birthday gift.

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Birthdays are the perfect opportunity to connect with your customers and generate a celebratory demand for your products. People want to accept their birthday gifts, take advantage of special birthday opportunities, and generally feel like the world is celebrating with them. They are ready for birthday greetings from every direction and are in the mood for a treat. As adults, birthdays take on a slightly different tenor . Your customers are more than prepared to treat themselves if a special birthday opportunity comes up that isn’t connected to friends or family. Every time one of your customers is about to experience a birthday, that is your perfect moment to use your automated marketing tools. Send birthday wishes to generate demand and increase the likelihood of a birthday sale. For more insights into demand generation and building strong customer relationships, contact us today!

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | January 13, 2020

When most marketing teams consider building an automated marketing experience, it’s only natural to start at the top of your funnel. The experience you plan to craft is one for new shoppers who are discovering your brand for the first time. But focusing only on the unique shopper experience is severely discounting (and not in the “good way”) the value of your return shoppers.

Automated Marketing is Ideal for Return Shoppers

Returning customers have bought from you before and liked what they experienced. They have come back to buy again, but they may not necessarily know exactly what they’re looking for or have the full motivation to complete the purchase. They also are less likely to need or want the help of a real person through live chat or email to push them along through the shopping experience.

Automated marketing is the ideal solution for return shoppers because they can enjoy the platform itself, guiding them toward the best possible product selections and rewarding them for completing each returning purchase. But you don’t have to accept simple generalities. Let’s dive into the seven most persuasive reasons why automated marketing is perfect for helping your return shoppers come back time and time again.

Return Shoppers …

1. …Don’t Need the Whole Top-of-Funnel Pitch

Automated marketing usually stacks on top of all your SEO and blog content work designed to catch the attention of new shoppers and entice them into a purchase. But return shoppers don’t need any of that top-of-funnel pitching. They know exactly where your website is and already know that you carry things they enjoy. When automated marketing would usually pick up where SEO left off, return shoppers can jump directly into a delightfully automated shopping experience.

2. …Feel Special When the Platform Comes to Life for Them

The automated marketing process for new and return shoppers can and should be different. Shoppers who get a “welcome first-timer” message the second, third, and fourth time they buy will feel your brand enthusiasm as hollow.

On the other hand, if your automated marketing greets return shoppers by name and thank them for coming back, your return customers suddenly feel remembered and special. Stack that on with exclusive deals just for them based on previous shopping and browsing histories and you’ve practically made a new friend, all without having to spend a single moment of human sales rep time.

Automated marketing is fantastic at making return shoppers feel appreciated and personalizing their experience in a rewarding and encouraging fashion.

3. …Are Already Looking for Something to Buy

Another perk of a custom return shopper experience is that you know return shoppers are already looking for something to buy. They’ve read your blog if they care to, and they’ve browsed your products so they already know approximately what you sell and the variety available. They must be back for a reason and automated marketing is there to help.

Automated marketing often jumps right into offering customers products they might enjoy and discount codes that might inspire shoppers to fill their virtual carts. When you’ve got a customer who is already ready to buy, these encouragements just make the shopping experience more fun and rewarding. And their final purchase more assured.

4. …Still Need Encouragement and Guidance to Complete a Purchase

Speaking of assured purchases, it’s also important to remember that while return shoppers are looking to buy, they also need the same kind of guidance and encouragement that many first-time buyers need to actually complete that purchase. Return shoppers are just as likely, if not more likely, to start filling their cart and then wander off because they’re sure they’ll come back for the items eventually. There is also a chance that return shoppers will fail to find exactly what they’re looking for, just like a new unconverted lead.

Automated marketing can help return shoppers not only find what they’re looking for by making AI-backed suggestions, but it can also keep up the shopping momentum all the way through purchase. Automated marketing encouragement often helps return shoppers complete their carts and the purchase process with satisfaction instead of getting distracted or discouraged on their own.

5. …Appreciate Automated Cross-Selling of Associated Products

When a return customer is shopping through your site, they often don’t know exactly what they plan to buy. Perhaps they liked your shirt selection and would be happy with a whole outfit, if only they could quickly choose the right pants and shoes to complement their favorite tops. The examples are infinite, but the point is the same: most return customers actually enjoy when your automated marketing engine tries to cross-sell or even up-sell them on practical additions to their cart.

A shopper looking for a nice blender might really enjoy that your automated marketing platform suggests a smoothie starter pack to go with it. A shopper looking for kid’s Christmas gifts might be delighted to see your cross-selling selection of toys for a similar age group as the toy they’ve clicked. Cross-selling is, in fact, far more effective with return shoppers than first-timers who are not yet sure they love your brand.

6. …Are More Likely to Return Again if Their Shopping Experience is Rewarding

Consider the second-time shopper who enjoyed their first shopping experience and has come back to see if a second purchase is just as satisfying. Automated marketing steps up to act as their personal assistant with a non-intrusive DIY flare that most people enjoy. Your automated marketing might suggest the perfect follow-up purchase or provide a discount code that delights your second-time shopper when they punch it into the checkout form.

When a return shopper has a wonderful time upon their return visit, they are far more likely to return again and again as a soon-to-be loyal customer because your website treated them right.

7. …Have a Reason to Invest in Referrals and Loyalty Rewards

Finally, never forget that your return shoppers are infinitely more likely to get involved in loyalty programs and even refer your brand to friends and family for rewards than first-time shoppers giving you a trial run.

Return shoppers who know they will return have a strong personal motivation to join the loyalty rewards program and sign up for emails because they know they’ll be using those discounts and reward points in the future. They can confidently refer your brand to friends because they know the experience is good, and they’ll do so because they want the reward points to spend on future purchases.

When your automated marketing makes loyalty program offers, your return customers are going to be the real takers every time.

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Automated marketing isn’t just to usher new leads through the first conversion purchase process. In fact, once a shopper has returned for their second or third purchase, your automated marketing system can become many times more effective because your return customers are engaged and invested in interacting with the site and earning the discounts you have to offer.

Now all you must do is craft a unique and rewarding automated shopping experience that doesn’t mistake every visitor for someone who’s brand new to the site. Instead, greet your return shoppers by name, offer them personalized deals, and generally make them feel like honored loyal patrons of the brand. For more automated marketing insights, contact us today!

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | December 3, 2019

As companies “lean up” their teams, they are finding that recruiting new talent is more than just a part time chore for “that guy in accounting”. And as the talent pools out there become more competitive, prospects are expecting more red carpet and less assembly line treatment from employers. “Why should I work for you?” vs. “Why should I hire you?”

Enter Bash Foo. Our teams for years have been mining leads for our clients, poring over gigantic spreadsheets of useless data to find just the right segment of engaged prospects and turning them on to our client’s products and services using persuasive copy and tried and true sales pitches.
So what happens when the experts in lead persuasion try their hand at prospecting job candidates in addition to sales opportunities? *Cue suspense-filled background music…

Something awesome happens, that’s what!

Job candidates appreciate the approach of a marketing agency. We understand that they are a valuable asset to our clients and we treat them like gold, not just a job order. Reason being is that our clients trust us with their valuable marketing dollars and we know how precious those are. When used wisely, recruiting dollars are just as efficient at printing money for a small business as new sales are.

So. Just What is Sourcing as a Service?

Instead of bogging down your internal recruiting team or “that guy in accounting” with hunting for candidates and qualifying them, we do the legwork of building lists of ideal candidates for the job description supplied by the hiring company. This kind of partnership helps businesses boost productivity and save money by Bash Foo doing the “legwork” of recruiting.

Finding the right candidates, and those who are serious about the job market, is one of the most tedious tasks in the recruiting field. In fact, recruiters spend as much as 50% of their time sourcing candidates.

But, Bash Foo can procure the right candidates for the position, and all you need to do is focus on the actual hiring process. It saves time, money, and productivity.

Here’s how our marketing agency can empower your hiring team to make better placement decisions for your company.

#1 We Free Up Your Team’s Time and Productivity

If your team is 100% focused on scanning job boards, resumes, and LinkedIn profiles, they will have little time to focus on actually recruiting your potential job candidates.

By utilizing our sourcing service, you can keep a list of qualified candidates in the hopper for any upcoming opportunities that may arise in the company. Then, your recruiting team simply reviews without the pressure and distraction of hunting for candidates.

#2 We’ve Already Got the Tools…without the Fees.

Bash Foo has invested in quality tools to procure the right candidates for the job. Have you ever looked into what it costs just to HAVE LinkedIn Recruiter, let alone pay someone to use it? That’s right. It’s expensive. And there is no reason why you should carry that full burden of those tools alone. Bash Foo spreads those costs out across all of our hiring companies.

This allows you to find quality candidates for your job position, trim back on expenses, and increase productivity in your recruiting departments.

The lists of candidates you receive will include verified contact information and background details, so you know exactly who you are getting in front of before the interview.

#3 We won’t be Hounding You to Hunt

We do a good job of staying in our lane. As a marketing agency, we’ve got plenty of tasks to focus on, so we won’t be dogging you for job orders to go hunting.

We simply provide the sourcing we promised, deliver on that promise – nothing more, nothing less. We aren’t about fluff around here, but we will be here when you need us to take on the next opportunity.

So, how does the process work?

If recruiters are constantly stuck behind a computer researching and vetting potential candidates, they aren’t spending their time getting to know future team members.

By utilizing our sourcing service, your team can focus on finding the right fit for a company’s culture and the job position.

There are three general steps to sourcing as a service:

1. Identify your ideal candidate. This can be a short form or questionnaire to determine the exact candidate you are looking for, immediately disqualifying anyone who does not meet the criteria for the position or culture.
2. Within a few days, we provide matching profiles to review against your ideal candidate. At this time, we ask for feedback so we can continue to narrow down the search.
3. Then, we deliver a full list of qualified profiles (with contact information) which you can reach out to and begin the hiring process.

Companies of all sizes utilize sourcing services as a way to free up their internal departments. As your chosen marketing agency and now sourcing expert, you can trust us to get the job done.

If you are interested in learning more about hiring Bash Foo to source your next employee, reach out to us today. A member of our recruiting team will help you find the best fit, and do so easily and affordably.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | December 2, 2019

Chances are you were not trampled down by the crowds if you went out Black Friday shopping. The sales data is in… And it should be eye opening to any business and retailer.

Black Friday Sales Comparison

In store: Sales in physical stores dropped 6.2% from last year, AND the number of shoppers in those stores fell by 2.1%

Online: Black Friday purchases made online increase by 20% to hit a record $7.4B.

I’m sure you are not shocked to learn that ecommerce outpaced physical shopping. Buying new pajamas while in your pajamas is the way to go!

The surprise found in this year’s sales data is the way that mobile online orders lapped any other form of shopping this Black Friday.

Mobile Phones Rule Black Friday

Mobile Orders: Shoppers were apparently too tired to open their laptop. 65% of Black Friday’s online deals happened on smartphones. That’s the biggest day ever for mobile ecommerce transactions. Up a full 35% from last year!

Pickup Orders: Why wait for 2 day shipping when you can pick it up at the store RIGHT NOW! The buy-online and pickup in store sales jumped 43% from last year.

Bottom line, if you retail anything. You really need to get a website. AND you really need to consider making it a “mobile first” website.

But what if you are a service industry? How many sales did you pick-up over Black Friday weekend?

Bash Foo offered discounts again and we netted 2 new clients, and 2 existing clients who opened their wallets this weekend to take advantage of a great set of discounts on digital marketing for 2020.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | November 26, 2019

Where do leads come from? This is a question that has spurred thousands of marketing campaigns and tactics. It’s true that some channels are going to be more productive for your brand and customer base than others. But the fact of the matter is that modern leads come from everywhere. They come from search engines, from friend recommendations, from affiliate links, and from social media. Leads will come to you from all directions. Therefore, to build a complete full-funnel experience, it’s vital to consider every entry point for the top of your funnel.

Today, we’re here to talk about mapping your top-of-funnel entry points so that you can map the full funnel experience for each lead, no matter where they may have come from.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | November 22, 2019

Every marketing team knows that videos are a powerful experiential asset. When users see a video on a site, in a blog, or on social media, they are more likely to stop and pay attention. Videos create a story, a journey, and a visual experience that users enjoy and often sticks in the mind more effectively than a pithy phrase or even a compelling still image. Despite the power of video when you’ve already got a user’s eye, video is also notoriously poor on the single most important aspect of modern marketing: SEO.

Web-crawlers and search engines can’t listen through the audio to know what your video is about or all the cool details you cover in your videos. Search engines can’t help users looking for an awesome animation of an apple on fire of a product demonstration even if that’s exactly what is in your video. But you can make it happen.

That library of videos you’ve been building can actually be SEO assets, but only if you know what to do. Today, we’re here to share this comprehensive guide on ten different ways to use both old and new videos to boost your SEO and help search engines know the real value that your videos have to offer.

By Mike McDermott | Categories Blog | Featured | November 4, 2019

Developing and releasing a new product is an exciting time for any business. Naturally, you’re eager to see your product in the hands of customers to start getting that enthusiasm back ten-fold. Of course, releasing a new product also means collecting and converting new leads. The audience for your latest release may not be exactly the same as those for your previous products. Not to mention your desire to grow your audience by expanding your offerings.

One of the best places to look for new lead generation for a new product is your channel marketing partners. Why? Because channel marketing is all about expansion. When you reach out to other businesses for whom you are part of their supply chain, you also potentially reach their network of customers and business partners. By using the creative outreach process of channel marketing, you can kick-start lead generation for a new product as well.

Let’s dive right into the five ways that channel marketing can put your new product lead generation into high-gear.

1) Channel Business Partners Have Their Own Clients With a Market for Your Products

Often, channel marketing involves selling to companies that either sell your product directly as retail partners or those who use your product as part of their production or packaging process. What makes it channel marketing is that you are selling to and partnering with other businesses instead of just trying to reach consumer-level buyers.

The primary benefit of channel marketing in this way is that you gain access not just to your direct buyers, but to the clients and audiences of your channel partners as well. In fact, your channel partners have every reason to hype your new product to their audience in order to promote how your product upgrades their own products.

Example: You sell bicycle accessories and have just released a new advanced safety bicycle light. Your channel partner sells assembled bicycles and will be proud to feature your new light as an upgrade to their products

2) Channel Partners Have a Unique Perspective on Marketing Your Products

Channel partners also have a completely different perspective on how to market your products and reach new demographics. Because they have their own client base and a completely different business model from your own, they have the advantage of a third-party viewpoint not only on your potential buyers, but on the value of the new product itself.

Consulting with your channel marketing partners is a great way to expand your campaigns and your targeting capabilities for the potential buyers of your new product. Your channel partners can point out that your new product is more versatile than you realize, or even point you toward new channel marketing leads who have a different use for your product than you initially imagined.

Example: Your bicycle-selling channel lead also sells scooters and mopeds. They point out that your light is equally ideal for these personal vehicles and then point out that the senior-scooter market would also be a great channel for your new bike light.

3) Channel Partners Want to Be on the Cutting-Edge of Their Industries

In fact, your channel partners are often your best allies when it comes to both developing and marketing new products because they want to be on the cutting edge. They have partnered with you for a reason and enjoy the value you add through your channel marketing campaigns. Each time you update your products and services, they benefit by staying on the cutting-edge, ahead of their competition.

Your channel partners not only want you to develop new products, but they want to be the ones to innovate the latest-and-greatest way to put those products to use. An enthusiastic channel marketing partner is one of your best possible lead-generating assets when they are as eager as you are to get the word out. The upgrade will have their customers clamoring for their new products that incorporate your products as well as creating interest for your stand-alone product for other uses.

Example: Your bicycle partner is not just offering new bikes and scooters with your light, they’re also offering to refit their own older products with a new light while simultaneously marketing your light as the cutting-edge of personal vehicle technology that they have special early access to.

4) Channel Partners May Refer Interested Partners of Their Own

Your channel partners may also be interested in introducing your new product to their own business partners. To do this without adding to their own logistical overhead, they may recommend you to their manufacturers, their retailers, or their shipping partners. These referrals are to streamline their own services while also, incidentally, expanding your channel marketing leads.

Channel partners may be primarily interested in boosting their own success, but the synergy you’ve already worked hard to create with value-added channel marketing can really pay off. Especially when you have a new product that your channel partners realize would be more efficient to send straight to their partners to streamline the production process.

Example: Your new bicycle light can be bolted to the handlebars with the wires threaded through a hollow bike frame rather than creating a catch-hazard by clipping to the outside. So your Bike-assembly channel partner hooks you up with their manufacturer to install the lights directly instead of threading the wires after the bikes are assembled.

5) Finding New Channels for New Products

Finally, there is the pure benefit of channel marketing, even without relying on existing partners. Perhaps your product is outside the purview of your previous channels, or you are just now getting into channel marketing for the first time. When you develop a new product, this opens doors to new potential channel partners.

Channel marketing is all about thinking creatively about the supply chain. Your new product might be better suited to restaurants where before you catered primarily to hotels. Or you have developed a new tool for small hands and thus open the door to partnering with children’s brands or brands that cater primarily to women. Every innovation and change in a new product can allow you to seek out new channel partners who, once connected, provide all the previous benefits in terms of generating leads and expanding your potential client base.

Example: Your new bicycle light includes a GPS feature that you market directly to parental safety brands and eco-travel brands in addition to your bicycle assembly partner.

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When it comes to generating whole new audiences of leads for both existing products and your brand new releases, channel marketing cannot be beat. Once you forge relationships with other businesses that sell, manufacture, or package with your products, their customers become your customers and their partners potentially become your partners. Contact us today to find out more about how to expand your channel marketing network and your buyer audience in one graceful lead-generating campaign effort.