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Written by Katie Waxman on April 8, 2024

Strong digital marketing tools are important for your vending services business. They can also make your sales team far more effective. Digital marketing influences decision making and attracts and converts leads. That makes them well worth the investment.

Which digital marketing tools are most important for your sales team?  The shortlist is a website, content marketing, and online reviews. Let’s explain why:

3 Vital Digital Marketing Tools

1. A User-Friendly Website

A well-designed website can convert prospects into leads for your sales team. The best websites are SEO optimized to rank higher in search results. This makes it easier for prospects to find you. Once they reach your site, a first impression will either capture their interest or make them click elsewhere. Your website must be visually appealing and easy to navigate on desktops and smartphones. And, nothing turns potential clients off faster than a confusing or slow-to-load site.

Be sure your website is always up to date with the latest information about your products and services. That way it can also serve as a strong reference point for your sales team when they are engaging with a lead.  And be sure to highlight what makes your business unique and ahead of the competition! Tout your strengths and make it easy for your sales team to reinforce why leads should pick you over a competitor.

2. Engaging Content Marketing

It is often said that content is king. And it is indeed an essential digital marketing tool. To make sure your content supports your sales goals, you need a strategy. It helps ensure all content forms, from blogs to emails, will have an engaging message.

Through content, your sales team can engage prospects easily. They’ll also stay connected with existing customers and make them aware of upgrade opportunities. Publish and share content regularly to reinforce your company’s expertise. Keep readers in the know about trending products, services, and equipment. Use content to highlight seasonal promotions, build client trust, or start a dialogue. Creating content your sales team can access and share will help them network and grow sales.

3. Online Reviews

Sales become easy when your current clients help build trust in your company. That is why online reviews and testimonials are so valuable. Asking your customers to provide a few kind words about your business goes a long way.

Google and Facebook are great places to gain reviews. Make it simple for happy customers to provide a review by sending them your review link. If you get verbal or emailed praise from a client, ask if you can share it on your website. The answer will most likely be yes!

Reviews are powerful influencers. When your company can show a standard of great service, your sales team will find closing deals is much easier. That’s the value of reviews.

Digital Marketing Tools Make Sales Easier

With the right digital marketing tools at your sales team’s fingertips, success becomes easier to achieve. Start with a user-friendly website and strong content marketing. Then make sure customers are singing your praises online. These are tools your sales force can rely on to find leads and close deals.

VendCentral has a toolbox filled with strong digital marketing materials to grow your vending business. Reach out today to gain leads and grow profits.

Written by Katie Waxman on March 18, 2024

Landing pages support and enhance your vending website. How? By diving deeper into the services you offer. The content on landing pages is targeted towards specific audiences and filled with SEO-boosting keywords. These pages are super useful for social media posts and emails too.

Understanding the benefits will help you maximize their power. Then, you can grow your vending website with pages that are designed to showcase your specific strengths and attract and convert leads. Here’s where to start:

Use Landing Pages for Targeted Messaging

Your vending website’s homepage gives a high-level view of your business and what it offers. In contrast, landing pages are more detailed and specific. For example, the benefits of installing a micro-market would make a great landing page. It’s focused on one topic, has a strong keyword for SEO, and is helpful to targeted clients.

The precise content helps convert viewers to clients by addressing specific questions and showing expertise around a particular topic. They also provide your sales team in the field with detailed support materials when they need them. Plus, regularly adding new pages lets your website stay fresh and relevant.

Landing Pages are Rich in Keywords

Adding landing pages to your website can also improve SEO. Since these pages are more detailed, they are an ideal place to focus on the industry keywords often used in organic searches. This increases the chances of prospects finding your business when they are looking for vending services. Bonus tip: use a combination of keywords and local SEO to attract the right audience.

Share Pages Via Social Media and Email

Landing pages are a must in any marketing plan. They can be shared in the social media posts and email campaigns you create for certain audiences. When readers click, they arrive at a page filled with useful information specific to their needs. This increases the likelihood of converting them into a client.

Make your Website a Better Sales Tool

In closing, landing pages offer many benefits to your business online. They are a way to promote specific services, cater to targeted audiences, boost SEO, and convert leads. In addition, they keep your website up-to-date and appealing to readers. That makes these web pages a valuable part of your website growth plan.

For help with your vending website and comprehensive marketing services, contact VendCentral. We specialize in digital sales and marketing for clients in the refreshment services industry.

Written by Katie Waxman on February 20, 2024

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a term you’ve likely heard before. It can be quite helpful to vending businesses looking to grow their client base as it gets their name higher on internet search results. Local SEO is a more specific type of SEO. It lets a company boost its ranking in a specific geographical area. Vending companies that maximize local SEO stand a better chance of attracting the right local audience. This can ultimately lead to new clients and more sales.

How does local SEO work? Keep reading to find out the ins and outs of local SEO as well as how you can enhance yours.

Local SEO is Vital to Break Room Service Providers

Vending, micro-market, and office coffee service providers often cater to specific service areas. Therefore, they want to focus on SEO results for those geographic locations. This is where local SEO comes in. Tailoring your online content to maximize keywords that are hyper-focused on city names, local area nicknames, and other local jargon will help improve your local SEO.

While local keywords have always been important for vending website SEO, there is even more urgency now. Google reports that more people are using keywords like “near me” than ever before. In two years, that query has risen 200%. If your local SEO isn’t optimized, you could be missing out.

4 Tips to Improve Local SEO

1. Include Your Address

There are several ways to optimize your website for local search. The first is to include your address. Search engines use this to decide if you are “near” someone using the search term “near me.”

Some operators don’t want to include their company’s physical address for personal or privacy reasons. But the benefits outweigh the risk of a client dropping by. Besides, having an address makes your company look more professional and trustworthy.

2. Pair City Names and Services

A second way to boost local SEO is to use local keywords in your website text. This means including city names as often as logical. Be careful not to over-stuff your site.  This could actually have a negative effect and lower your ranking. The rule of thumb is if the text reads well, you should be okay with the number of keywords.

Tip: It’s best to pair local keywords with the names of services your customers are searching for. For example, write about your reliable “CITY vending machines” to help connect your company with those searching for vending machines in your “CITY”.

3. Add Local SEO to Blogs

Third, write blogs and publish them on your social media platforms. Blogs are a great way to add content that is recognized by search engines. Highlighting local search terms throughout your blogs will boost your rankings for these keywords.

Be sure your blog includes backlinks to your website too. When readers click on your blog’s backlinks they will go directly to your website and discover more relevant content for their local area.

4. Consider Multiple, Local Landing Pages

Finally, get in the mind of someone searching for your services. If they want vending in a certain city and click through to your website, will they see that city named? Will there at least be a nearby city or region that tells them you service their area? This is what the user expects.

Some vending operators have multiple locations that aren’t close to each other. In this case, the operator might want to have a different website landing page for each location. That way, each page can contain words with a local focus that makes sense to the person searching. You’ll get a better sales lead this way, too.

Don’t Forget a Google Business Listing

A Google Business Listing will benefit your local SEO. How? Google Business Listings display prominently on Google search.  Plus, Google uses it to understand where your company is located. This allows it to show your company in a list of appropriate results for a “near me” or “city” search.

Ensure your Google Business Listing is complete and promotes your company and its services. It should contain a clear description of your offerings. Be sure the hours of operation and physical address of your workplace are current. Remember, your address also boosts your local SEO. You will also want to include photos of your services and company in your listing. This will help you make a personal connection and seem more attractive to someone searching for your services.

Tip: Encourage your local customers to provide reviews on your Google Business Listing. This validates your services in the eyes of potential clients. And be sure to respond to the reviews. This will show your company cares about providing great customer service and values customer feedback.

Optimize Your Website with More Local SEO Keywords

Strong local SEO is vital to vending companies. Utilizing keywords that reflect the city and regions you service, including your address on your website, and optimizing your Googe Business Listing will help you attract the right clients in the right service areas. Simply put, it will make your business easier to find when a client types in “vending near me.”

For more information about vending marketing, reach out to VendCentral. We offer digital sales and marketing services and specialize in top-notch local SEO for vending operators.

Written by Katie Waxman on December 5, 2023

A new website offers your vending business a fresh look and opportunity for growth. With the new year approaching, now is a great time to look at boosting your online presence in 2024!

So how do you know if you need a new website? This blog will give busy vending operators like you some key things to consider.

The Case for a New Website

First Impressions

When competing for breakroom service contracts, it’s vital to look fresh. Your site needs to instantly convey that your business is current and trustworthy. This means a modern design, crisp graphics, up to date information, and appealing photos. A fresh website can captivate visitors researching your business online. This first impression should put you ahead of your competition and leave a lasting, positive impression.

User Enhanced

A new website can mean more engaged visitors who spend a longer time discovering your offerings. Think about how users might move around your current site. Is the navigation simple? Does your site load quickly? Is the design responsive? How easy is it to view on a mobile device? A user-friendly site keeps visitors shopping. They check out the services you offer and explore more. This increases your chance of conversion.

SEO Optimized

New SEO practices can boost your website’s visibility in search engines. It is important your site include keywords for the major services you offer and the local cities you operate in. The more in tune your website is with the way customers shop, the better your organic search results will be. This means more organic traffic to your website and more leads.

New Website Security

Cybersecurity is an ongoing concern for many businesses operating online. Be confident your website’s security credentials are up to date. Modern websites can integrate better security measures. This ensures not only the safety of your company’s site but also any data saved from users.

Aligned Messaging

A new website can bring together your company’s updated brand and messaging. If these have evolved over time, a new site will ensure shoppers are seeing the most accurate reflection of your current business. Your website should showcase your brand and your messaging should back it up, telling your story. A new site can let your look and communication best reflect your business today.

Conversions

A good website is designed to easily convert visitors to customers. It can do that in many ways, including strategic placement of call-to-action buttons and forms. These engage the user and easily guide them into your sales funnel. Simple measures like these can boost sales and leads.

New Website Advantages Are a Click Away

Now you know what should be in a new website for vending companies. It includes a combination of front-facing enhancements and back-end improvements. If you think your site could use a refresh in 2024, we specialize in making the process easy for busy operators. That’s because VendCentral has spent decades helping vending operators succeed with digital sales and marketing. Contact VendCentral today to discuss a new website that will get visitors’ attention and grow leads.

Written by Katie Waxman on November 9, 2023

A wide-ranging marketing program is a proven way to expand your reach and drive sales success. But, are you a vending operator who prefers to stay focused on your operations? In that case, managing and executing a marketing strategy may feel like too much work. Lucky for you, VendCentral has you covered. We offer three marketing programs to fit the needs of vending operators. From our foundational program to full-scale support, our solutions make your vending business shine.

Get to Know our Monthly Marketing Programs

At the heart of each marketing program is a collaborative relationship with our client. We get to know you, your brand, and your business goals. We may advise on a new brand positioning or a new logo as a first step. Then, we work to design a new website that properly reflects your business and gives a great user experience. We will make sure it has the features you need to support your goals.

In addition to creating and hosting your new website, we’ll implement a website growth plan. This includes a schedule of new content, including blog article features, to showcase your expertise.

A social media strategy is also put into effect on your behalf.  This includes making engaging content that is posted on multiple platforms. Plus, we manage your Google My Business Profile.

All of these elements are included in each program we offer. They unite under the watchful eye of your dedicated Marketing Account Manager. This person spearheads collaboration with you. He or she will also ensure all content supports our overall marketing strategy and craft it to produce outstanding SEO results.

Compare Our 3 Offerings

1. CORE Marketing Program

The CORE Marketing Program is our foundational program and our most affordable.  It is designed for smaller vending companies who are looking to dip their toe into marketing on a starter program. CORE provides the basics and allows your company to become more active in the digital arena.  Ongoing content is less frequent and customized. However, it is a strong base to build upon or even supplement with your own content.

2. CUSTOM Marketing Program

Our most popular program is the CUSTOM Marketing Program. It layers on personalized content to further differentiate your company from its competitors. Meetings with your Marketing Account Manager are more often and promotional calendars are designed to capitalize on what is going on in your business each month. More social media content is produced to engage with prospects more deeply and produce even stronger SEO.  With CUSTOM, you get an increased website growth plan and even a handy tool on your website to see who is shopping for your services online.

3. COMPLETE Marketing Program

The top-tier COMPLETE marketing program is our most comprehensive. It contains all that is in our CUSTOM Marketing Program and much more. You and your Marketing Account Manager work jointly on a personalized social media sales strategy. Social media content is 100% tailored to your needs and published often. Website growth is accelerated for the strongest SEO performance. Additional features like email campaigns and LinkedIn Ads are layered into this program. They are used to reinforce branding, boost sales, and expand reach. Clients on the COMPLETE program enjoy the same benefits as having an in-house marketing department at a fraction of the cost.

Marketing Programs That Grow and Evolve

VendCentral takes pride in being nimble and flexible. That’s why as your business grows and evolves, our marketing programs will, too. VendCentral provides the option to scale up or down between programs if there is ever a need. You can also always supplement your program with individual services, too. To further explore our marketing programs, contact VendCentral. We’ll listen to your needs and find the Marketing Program to promote your business and grow your sales.

Written by Katie Waxman on August 21, 2023

There is nothing more necessary than building SEO for your refreshment service website. Why? Because in today’s highly competitive digital market, you need to be front and center online. Good SEO will put you there.

Implementing working SEO strategies will improve your search engine rankings (the S and E in SEO). It will drive traffic to your vending website for FREE! Plus, it boosts brand visibility for your vending company. All that makes it easier for you to meet your business goals.

Understanding SEO

There are many levels to SEO, from the domain name you choose to how you index your pages. Utilizing a hosting company or even a digital marketing agency can really help with this. But there’s more that you have direct control over. Optimizing this is how you can build organic SEO.

Consider Website Design and Keywords

The design of your website affects SEO. So, it is important to set up a logical structure. Each page should have links to the other pages. These are called backlinks and help search engines find new pages. It also helps you rank higher for the words that are linked, a.k.a. keywords.

Speaking of keywords, getting these right is critical. To begin, think of your target customer. What will they type in a search engine to find the breakroom refreshment services you offer? Are there other search terms they use? What else do you offer? This is how you can begin to create your keywords. And don’t be afraid to try some keyword planning tools for those related words that are not obvious.

Ensure a Seamless User Experience

Another boost to SEO is to remember that search engines prioritize websites that offer a good user experience. So, how do you do that? First, ensure your backlinks work and the site loads quickly. Nothing frustrates users more than broken links or a page that times out. Your site must also be mobile-friendly since more and more people, even business-to-business prospects, are searching on their smartphones.

Second, the information on your site needs to be useful. The user should spend time on your site, reading and clicking on links. This will be key to better SEO AND getting qualified leads for your sales team.

Remember that Content is King

The most vital aspect of building SEO is content. Generating the right subject matter can make your site valuable to customers, give search engines your keywords, and attract prospect attention. Website content includes blogs, at least monthly, and new website pages that mention a few of your keywords. There is no need to stuff the text full of the keywords. In fact, this will lower your SEO score. Just ensure you mention the most important keywords, and relevant services, a few times.

Create content beyond your website as well. Social media posts are great for getting attention and user engagement. Ensure they link back to your website. Don’t forget about email newsletters, email ads, and online promotions. These might link to an existing website page or a newly created landing page. The links, keywords, and traffic will optimize your site for the search engines.

Unlock the Power of SEO

Now that you understand ways to make your SEO better, it’s time to optimize (the O in SEO). Enhance your website to be logical and user-friendly. Verify your keywords and add content that is useful and relevant. That is how you’ll build strong SEO and feed the bottom line of our vending business.

Need some SEO help? VendCentral has the digital marketing expertise to get your site ranking better. Check out our marketing plans or call us today at (866) 699-8363.