Seven years ago, in the infancy of One Firefly’s web offerings, the award-winning Mercury Collection was born. The first of its kind, the Mercury Collection is a Joomla-based set of mobile responsive design models that enable home technology and commercial systems contractors to quickly and easily achieve a professionally branded website that is optimized for SEO and lead generation.

After nearly seven wonderful years, it is with a nostalgic heart that One Firefly has officially decided to sunset our Mercury Collection. What does this mean, and how does this impact your existing Mercury Website? Read on to learn more.

With the start of the new year comes many changes, including a new marketing strategy. Whether you want to garner new customers, expand brand awareness, or increase phone calls to your business, Facebook ads are a juggernaut for a small or large business's marketing strategy. 

Facebook ads can be daunting, and with that,  common questions can arise. The most popular questions being,  “How much do they cost?”  When you work with an agency that can cultivate a distinct and holistic strategy,  you can set your marketing goals up for success. 

See Also: Key Components That Can Make or Break Any Advertisement Campaign

Are You Seeing Maximum Results from Your Marketing Efforts? At One Firefly, we are proud to be unique. When we tell friends and family that we are marketers who write content, design websites and graphics, manage SEM campaigns&nbs...

Retain Clients and Build Your Business  for the Long Term with Smart Programs and Marketing

Mention recurring revenue sources, often referred to as RMR, to some in the custom integration industry, and you will get different perspectives. Many integrators understand the value of a repeatable services business, but many others are not focused on it. Some struggle with how to build a services model, price it, and promote it.

The custom integration industry has always been about great service. Repeat project business most often comes from satisfied customers and word of mouth from excellent customer experiences. Of course, OneFirefly offers a full range of marketing services for integrators to reach new customers and marketing new products and services to existing ones. But as the key differentiator in the industry becomes increasingly tilted from product to services, building new ways to retain customers and achieve dependable revenue streams is becoming more critical.

SEE ALSO: Should Your Business Send E-Newsletters? Spoiler: Yes

2020 is a win for consumers as smart technology continues to become more intelligent, more cross-compatible and faster than ever before

Here at One Firefly, smart technology is always trending. Because we spend our days researching the latest consumer technology news and talking to clients and industry leaders about the shifts they see in the demand for smart tech, we’re in a unique position to talk about the biggest trends emerging in our field.

The list below is by no means exhaustive, but it does touch briefly on four of the most impactful developments gaining traction in the world of smart consumer technology. 

SEE ALSO: Trust Your Marketing to the Professionals: Here’s Why

Google My Business during COVID-19

With efforts to reduce office gatherings and to protect the safety of their team during these unprecedented times, staffing for Google My Business has been limited. As a result, there are temporary delays and support to review inquiries. Features are limited or are currently removed altogether during this unprecedented COVID-19 situation.

Why Owning Your Website's Google Analytics Account Is Even More Critical In 2020

What Is Google Analytics?

While not something you may look at on a day-to-day basis, Google Analytics is the single most important tool for insight on website performance and visitor data. This free, sophisticated platform provides useful metrics on how people are visiting your site, how long they are staying, and where they are navigating. 

How Does It Work?

When a Google Analytics tracking code or javascript snippet is added to your website, it collects data in real time – so as the page is loaded by a visitor, a hit is transmitted to the platform with its associated data. This data, along with certain data collected by platforms such as Google Search Console and Google Adwords is then organized into your single Analytics account.

One of the biggest advantages of actively collecting this data? You will forever have access to the historical record of the performance of your website which now can be easily juxtaposed to the changes in marketing efforts that you may be implementing. 

SEE ALSO: Top 5 KPIs to Watch in Google Analytics [A Beginner's Guide]

Drive Traffic to Your Website and Boost Conversions with an SEM Campaign

You’ve probably heard the term used on the internet when searching for different ways to market your business, or have seen it pop up in some of the articles or books you have done your research with, but you’re still not really sure what SEM is and what it can do for your business. 

In this blog post, we’ll cover what SEM is, who it is for, and why it may be beneficial for your company. 

SEE MORE: Feedback Matters: 3 Reasons Why Online Reviews Are Critical 

If you have paid anyone to handle your digital ads for you, I’m willing to take a bet that you would prefer they handle the nitty-gritty, tiresome task of making sure the ads do well. Especially with search advertising, also known as SEM, this can translate to a lot of nerdy, data-heavy work. So why in the world would you need to own that account from the start of the relationship?

The money you spend on your SEM efforts is an investment into learning what works for your unique business. If one day you need someone different to manage your Google Ads, and you do not own the account and data, you will need to make the exact same investment again. Even if you already know the language that best resonated with your customers, there is a machine learning component to the search algorithm that cannot be replicated in a new account. Unless you set yourself up to own your Google Ads account data from day one, you are at risk of losing thousands of dollars of your investment.

SEE ALSO: ARE YOU GIVING AWAY THE KEYS TO YOUR KINGDOM?