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Go to the home page of your business website. Do it. Yes, right now. How long does it take you to locate your phone number? Okay, now, look at an interior page, like a product page or “About” page. How long did it take you to find your phone number then? Last test: find a smartphone or tablet and pull your website up. You guessed it – how long did it take to find your phone number here? If it takes you more than five seconds to locate your phone number in any of these scenarios, your website has a serious problem....
In response to my post defining social selling, I realized that I needed to take a step back and define “What is a social business?” There is a lot of talk about the social business and too often it involves a discussion of social tools and channels. In this article I’ll offer my own definition as well as plenty of links to other resources you can check out for more ideas on how to help your organization transform into a social business. A social business is not a business that sends a lot of Tweets or has a ton of Facebook FB -2.01% likes. A social business is one that realizes that it operates in a more transparent and social world. And so it makes customers and employees equally as important as its shareholders and profits. tools and channels....
We all need to acquire new customers to make our products and businesses work. Whether there are a few users paying big bucks or thousands visiting your platform for free, how you get and retain customers is what is important. But ask yourself: are you really ready for more customers? Is your team set up to handle an influx of users? What’s your promotion strategy – inbound marketing or traditional PR? This extensive guide will walk you through what user acquisition is and how to execute a plan....
...According to Instagram’s official press page, there are 100 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day, 8500 likes per second, and 1000 comments per second. This flurry of activity shows that not only is Instagram one of the most popular social networks, engagement is also relatively easy, making it a great opportunity for companies that are willing to post regularly. ...Huge brands like Coca-Cola and major celebrities like Justin Bieber are using Instagram to connect with their fans and customers on a more personal level.... Just like the social networks that came before it, using Instagram as part of your overall online marketing initiatives helps you introduce new and existing products to your target market, build a sense of community with your customers, and gather more online exposure....
Are you trying to figure out how to use mobile marketing to grow your sales and revenues? Here are five mobile ad campaigns you can use for inspiration. 1. Heineken Hits the Back of the Net with Dual Screen Game In 2011, UEFA Champion’s League sponsor Heineken introduced an innovative ‘dual screen’ app that let fans interact via their smartphones as games were taking place....
...First of all, I don't know any small business owners who have the time to do that (learn everything ). Second, it isn't necessary. Instead, jump in! Start now... You'll learn plenty along the way. An important note: your online marketing efforts will reflect either positively or negatively on your business. Any business owner can start marketing online now, but do take care to put out content and messages that have quality and authenticity. So, let's get down to it. Here are seven online marketing activities you can start today....
Social media as a primary marketing strategy is tempting, but it doesn't work well for everyone. Learn some of the pros and cons here....and the solution... It is no secret that social media is turning into quite the process. It’s becoming more and more important, so many different tools and advice columns keep popping up to help businesses and individuals stay organized and successful when it comes to this newer marketing effort. This has caused many companies to create a full-time social media position for experts to help manage the many social accounts, follow analytics, get creative with engagement, etc. It takes a lot of time and effort, but the payoff is only increasing as social involvement increase, so it’s easy to ask yourself: Can I get away with making my social media strategy my primary marketing strategy?...
Social media lay people may regard LinkedIn as, primarily, a venue for networking and for career advancement—but smart business owners know better. They know that LinkedIn is nothing less than a critical tool for brand enhancement and lead generation. Indeed, when used properly, LinkedIn can actually be used to drive traffic to a company website and ultimately to garner higher sales. The trick, of course, is having the right LinkedIn marketing strategy. Six basic pointers are offered below....
The steps and costs of integrating social media into your marketing strategy..... When people hire me to help them integrate social media into their marketing strategies, the first step is drafting a comprehensive document that lays out the following: - Target market - What terms prospects use to search for them online - Preferred social media platforms - How they’ll brand them - How they’ll drive traffic to their main website or blog - How they plan to connect with followers - A specific strategy for each network (you may post different content and have a different client base on Twitter versus LinkedIn, for instance) - What their competitors are doing on these chosen platforms...
Don’t Ignore Social as a Way to Connect... According to a May 2012 survey by Constant Contact, over three-quarters of small businesses agree on their primary goal: attracting new customers. Unfortunately, a more troubling statistic shows that many small business owners are missing out on a vital opportunity. According to a recent eMarketer post, only 32 percent of small business owners think social media marketing is an effective tool in today’s digital bazaar. This perception needs to change. For many small business owners, social media is still largely an unknown quantity. Here are a few basic reasons that businesses of every size should invest their marketing resources in social media. Five reasons social media marketing is important...
70% of mobile searches lead to action on websites within 1 hour. I especially love that last number, because it represents an incredible opportunity for marketers and business owners to capture conversions right then and there, as potential customers are searching on their phones for your brand or product. To help you, I’m going to share with you five tips you can use now in your business to take advantage of this age of mobile that we are in....
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You have a local based brick and mortar business, so no reason to invest in online marketing, right? Location based businesses couldn’t be more wrong. Do not miss out on sales and customers by ignoring or avoiding online marketing. One of the key principles of business is to be where your target audience is looking for you. A growing number of consumers are searching online before making a purchase decision, so your business needs to be there in order for them to find you and include your company in their decision making process. According to the BIA/Kelsey report, 97% of consumers use online media before making local purchases. Google Research showed that 9 out of 10 internet searches resulted in a follow up action, such as calling or visiting the business. Mobile searches triggered an additional action or conversion 73% of the time; and 28% of mobile searches resulted in a store visit or purchase. Since mobile searches are on the rise, this behavior is only going to continue to increase.... Four takeaways for brick and mortar businesses looking to take advantage of online marketing...
No longer marketing’s shiny new object, social media has become an indispensable tool to achieve key business goals since prospects and customers spend at least one out of five online minutes using these platforms. This makes social media too big to ignore. The challenge is leveraging the power of social media to achieve your organization’s key objectives in a measurable way. “Whether you work for a big business or small one, one thing is clear from this research. Social media marketing is here to stay.” – Mike Stelzner, Founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner Social Media Examiner’s 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, a survey of a cross section of businesses using social media as part of their marketing mix, highlights nine benefits of social media marketing....
Every day, businesses are inspired to bring creative marketing ideas to life on Facebook in ways that have a real impact on their bottom line. Many have discovered how to leverage their Facebook communities to strengthen brand loyalty and communicate directly with customers. As your company invests in the social network for marketing, advertising, and branding, it’s useful to have a few examples of what others have done with the platform. These case studies look at the goals, approaches, and results for several Facebook campaigns.
Small businesses prefer to conduct their marketing efforts on social networking sites over location-based marketing, according to a May 8 article by Fox News. Given the word-of-mouth nature and sharing features of sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest, 97 percent of business owners said that they use these platforms to promote their businesses. Only 17 percent of businesses say they utilize location-based ads, such as Foursquare, in promoting their products and services. Additionally, 66 percent of small business owners are optimizing their website for mobile platforms, reflecting an evolving use of the web and social sites. Just 34 percent of business owners say they have no desire to use social media in the future. Many believe that they don’t have a demand from customers to utilize such platforms.... Most important, 61 percent of small business got no return on investment...
... If you’ve got Google +, you simply need to log in to your account and click “Start a Hangout”. From there, you get a series of prompts that take you through the steps you need to get schedule and start your Hangout. Be sure to check out Hangouts on Air, a feature that gives you the opportunity to broadcast your Hangout to others on your YouTube channel, on Google + or on your website. And while it has got a lot of pros, Google + does have its cons. One of which, is that you’ve got to have a Google ID to use it. That also means that for people to join your Hangout, they’ve got to have one too. And the more apps you add to your Hangout, the slower your connection speed, resulting in lag time. So how you use Google Hangouts to market your small business? Here are seven ways to help you get started....
Online analytics can be fascinating. They can provide insight into the quality of your online content, let you know just how engaged your Twitter followers are or simply provide a timely ego boost. However, in amongst all the good news, bad news and insight, there are certain analytics that rarely change. Wherever you go, from B2B service providers to fashion retailers, the most visited web pages are usually the same. The most visited page on almost every website is the “About” page. No matter what you sell, your website visitors, social media followers and online prospects all want to know about you. More than want to know, they actually expect to get information about you. There are common questions every prospect expects to have answered by your online presence....
With a defined social media strategy in place, marketers can rock social media in 30 minutes a day. Sound too good to be true? It is actually possible if your daily use of social media is built upon a well-developed social media strategy. But, a strong social media strategy does not mean that your brand has to be on every single social media channel out there. Instead, focus on the social media channels that the majority of your customers frequent. The infographic below explains how having an over-arching social media strategy in place can save you time and make you a more effective social media strategist....
Social Media's ROI can be tracked with these 7 metrics. However, measurement is more than just results. It must tie back to your objectives.... For years now you’ve heard everywhere that you can’t measure Social Media ROI (return on investment). I’m not sure if it’s been an excuse to discount Social Media’s value or a fear of adapting to a new marketing model. Perhaps a little bit of both. Marketing Charts recently outlined on a new report by the Platt Retail Institute, conducted in association with the American Marketing Association comparing marketers’ rankings of various channels’ budget allocations against the channels’ perceived importance and ROI. The study reveals that of the 11 channels identified, Social Media marketing ranks 4th in both current importance and ROI but ranks only 6th in budget allocation. Scott Monty of Ford Social explained in his blog that “The study reveals there’s a mismatch between marketing budget and effectiveness in key areas. Two are mass media and customer support, which are being overspent on versus their return on investment. Alternatively, email and social are being underspent on while they have a more effective ROI.”...
Today, the entire business community is aware of the fact that social media marketing (SMM) is a hugely rewarding way to retain existing customers.... Social Media has remarkably altered the way people connect, interact, and share information. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn are the most prominent sites where social interactions constantly take place. SMM may be defined as a method to profitably use social media to build relationships, obtain repeat business, and attract to convert prospects through friends sharing with friends. In short, SMM is word-of-mouth powered publicity leading to enlargement of customer-base. SMM means connecting with customers and prospects where they hang out online and actively participate in conversations about the topics most interesting to them. Remember, there are already ongoing conversations between your customers and prospects and it is up to you to take advantage. As a rule, people like doing business with people they know and transact business with people they trust. Though prospects are available aplenty, successfully connecting with them calls for a well-conceived and meticulously executed strategy....
...just because you’re using social media for business, that doesn’t make you a “social business”. Far fewer companies have applied the principles of social networking throughout their business; in many cases the Facebook and Twitter presence is just a Social Façade, a marketing layer that aims to disguise that in the rest of the company it’s the same old anti-social business as usual. Of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using social media as a marketing channel. But to see social solely for this purpose means missing out on much wider potential benefits. A report by McKinsey Global Institute in July 2012 claims that “while 72% of companies use social technologies in some way, very few are anywhere near to achieving the full potential benefit.”...
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One of those bits of advice where Homer Simpson would say "Doh!"
Useful information when a clients starts asking questions about tengible results.