Friday, 2 September 2011

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SiteProNews

Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:42 AM PDT
socialmedia2Social media has established a prominent presence as form of marketing utilized by companies in countless industries worldwide. There are a variety of inherent factors that can prove to substantially increase a company’s brand equity and visibility, or possibly victimize a company’s reputation. The way in which a social media strategy is implemented and monitored can go a long way in determining its overall effectiveness.
Today’s market features a wide array of consumers who have certain expectations of brands, products, and services. Discontented and social media savvy consumers are simply awaiting any opportunity to voice their opinions via Twitter, Facebook, and associated social channels. This makes it even more vital for a company to thoroughly research and consider what methods of social media are most appropriate and beneficial to their needs.
There are a number of steps that can be taken in order to avoid the aforementioned social media disasters that occur frequently in today’s online marketplace. The first involves being realistic and properly understanding the relationship between conversations on social networks and other types of customer interactions.
The second step includes utilizing a multi-channel strategy for customer sales and service. While social media is quite effective, interactions taking place at brick and mortar locations, on toll-free lines, and during online customer service chats are also very important in providing a comprehensive view of consumers’ opinions.
The next step focuses upon viewing your data and evaluating the technology that is currently in place in order to understand consumer behavior and the voice of the customer.
The final measure that can be taken to avoid social media disaster is to have a designated employee that specializes in the customer experience delivery chain.
A company that does not currently possess a strong presence in social media does not have to fear making a huge investment in social media. There are a number of low cost options that can be practiced to make that initial leap into the realm of social media marketing. Starting a blog about relevant industry news, trends, or intriguing applications of your product line is an excellent way to embark into the world of social media. Creating a LinkedIn group, Facebook page, Twitter account, a customers-only discussion forum, or a YouTube channel can provide unique opportunities to present and inform users and fans alike of current company highlights and information.
The key to a company’s successful use of social media is all about the results and the ability to properly measure them. Industry analysts are publicizing self-service business intelligence as the so-called “golden child” of 2011. In terms of marketing, one area that could widely benefit from self-service BI is social marketing. There are a number of best-practices that can be employed in order to measure social
media effectiveness using BI solutions. Mapping out the ideal marketing process flow that will best transform prospects into quality sales leads is an exceptional starting point. Another practice involves determining the online marketing initiatives and campaigns that will be implemented to attract and engage prospects. Selection of the appropriate outlets to use is quite important in safeguarding the effectiveness of these initiatives.
Each initiative that comprises the marketing plan must then have a pre-established audience profile, outreach, value proposition, and budget that you are willing to spend. The most appropriate set of keywords must then be identified to ensure optimal website content that is designed for those specific keywords.
Identifying and adjusting paths on social networks, aligning the website experience with specific landing pages, and setting goals for desired actions are all best-practice techniques in order to ensure continuity. It is also vital to measure all of the initiatives that are being used at a given time to display your activity, outreach, engagement, and outcomes.
An even more thorough approach includes tracking all the way through to incremental sales, revenue and gross profit that is derived directly from online marketing. Business intelligence allows insight at the appropriate times during your social media campaigns. It offers the ability to instantly alter campaign focus and direction. Social media marketing can greatly benefit from the use of business intelligence as marketers can produce and exhibit greater value in their social media outreach campaigns.
The Darwin Agency, is a Marketing Company with offices in South Florida. Miami Ad Agencies specialize in developing, executing and advertising campaigns for growing businesses. To know more about Florida Advertising Agencies, please visit http://thedarwinagency.com
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

The Critical Aspects of Social Media and Its Overall Effectiveness
Posted: 29 Aug 2011 09:23 AM PDT
videomktgIt is well known that online video marketing is incredibly popular these days. Almost every internet marketer is either already doing it or planning to jump on the bandwagon very soon. If you don’t believe me just go take a look at a few product sales pages right now, or some popular internet business blogs, or discussions on your favorite online marketing forum. You could also check out a little site you might have heard of called YouTube. Okay, I think you get the point!
There are marketing videos all over YouTube and all the other major video sharing sites. And just as with guest blogging, social networking, article marketing, and other popular traffic generation strategies; video marketing can make you a lot of money if you do it correctly. This post is going to provide you with three online video marketing tips that you can use to become a rockstar of the industry.
One of the most important things to remember is… You need to be outrageous! People aren’t interested in watching (or sharing) a boring video of you sitting at your desk talking about the hottest new internet marketing trend. You need to catch and keep their attention, and give them a reason to share it with their social network. So you want to do something that’s original and off the wall to be different from everyone else creating marketing videos.
The next tip is to not be super cheap. Yes, I know there are some decent free solutions out there for making videos. But your videos are going to seem amateurish and not look as good if you use them. You don’t have to spend a fortune on equipment or software but if you’re going to be a video marketer, you might as well do it right. At the very least you should get a high quality camera, a good microphone, proper lighting, and great editing software.
Last but not least, you should script your videos. Chances are you aren’t a professional actor, or even a very good one. Maybe you are but the vast majority of internet marketers are not, so this online video marketing tip is for them. Therefore, you can’t just step in front of the camera and totally wing it. If you do that you will make tons of mistakes and your video will suck. So, script out what you want to say/do and rehearse it until you have it just right. Don’t hit record until you know what you’re going to say and are ready to go. But also remember not to simply read your script or your video will be super boring.
Alright, that pretty much covers it. If you want to become an online video marketing rockstar you need to concentrate on being original, entertaining, finding the right equipment, and scripting out your videos beforehand. Doing this will ensure they turn out much more professional and end up getting you a lot more traffic, which will make you tons more money from your internet business.
Trent Brownrigg is an internet marketing consultant that has been teaching aspiring marketers, online business owners, entrepreneurs, and other people just like you how to make money online with internet home businesses since 2003. Visit http://intmktr.com for more information.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

3 Rockin’ Online Video Marketing Strategies
Posted: 29 Aug 2011 08:55 AM PDT
business1It’s time to get fruity with some great small business marketing ideas that will help you explode your clients (not literally!). As a small business, marketing can sometimes be daunting, but take these 20 ideas and implement one idea every day. Put a tick list on your desk and take massive action.
1. Brand your Business Clearly. Make sure your business name or logo clearly identifies the ultimate benefit of what you are offering in a way which will appeal to your market; keep it simple, short and memorable. A store called “Gifts for Garden-lovers” or “Green-finger Gifts” is precise and clear; one called “Smith’s Store” or “Universal Wonder” gives no clue.
2. Be Seen in All the Right Places. Think about where your target customers go and try to arrange to advertise by displaying leaflets or posters there. For the youth market, use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or other online resources. For adults and young families it might be the local supermarket, the library, the gym, or the “mother and toddler” group. For the senior market, target locations your potential customers visit such as libraries, doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms, church halls, community centres etc. or advertise in the local paper or free-sheet, perhaps with a promotional discount voucher.
3. Give Your Knowledge Away. What you know about your business and your industry is interesting and potentially valuable to others. Without giving away any really sensitive information, offer to speak at schools and colleges, women’s groups or business clubs on a topic related to your business; write for the local paper or speak on the local radio and you will gain valuable exposure. Make your website as informative as possible. Tell potential customers exactly how you will help their business, or benefit them personally. If you can, reveal a few “tricks of the trade” to help them make best use of what you sell. Very few people will actually steal your knowledge to set up for themselves, but many of your customers will feel gratified that you are willing to be open and honest with them.
4. Word of Mouth. This can be a very valuable marketing tool – and is absolutely free! Make sure all your customers leave you 100% happy and satisfied with the service you have provided to them, and they will become ambassadors for your business.
5. Investigate the Competition. Use a friend or a paid “Mystery Shopper” to call on other businesses in your area to see how they operate. Get hold of their advertising literature and compare their offering with yours. Check out their websites. What can you do to make your business stand out?
6. Offer Discounts. Produce Discount Vouchers to be used at your store or business (perhaps on certain slower moving products, or on certain days when your trade is usually slack). Add an expiry date to generate a sense of urgency. You could include a discount voucher in your advertising, hand them to each customer, or mail them to previous clients.
7. Give-Aways. Hand out free samples in your local high street; give customers a small free product with each purchase over a certain value; or have “3 for 2″ offers or “Buy -1-Get-1-Free” promotions.
8. Linked Purchases. Offer a deal where customers who buy product A get product B at a reduced price. This can encourage customers to buy two products, when they would otherwise only have bought one.
9. Loyalty or Reward Schemes. Issue a card to be stamped each time the customer buys, with a full card entitling the customer to a free product, or a discount on their next purchase (but make sure the cards and stamps are kept under control, or you could end up with an unexpected rush of claims!)
10. Competitions. Run a competition and choose an exciting prize from your range of products or services, which will not cost you a great deal but which will be very appealing to your potential customers. Advertise the competition widely in the locality, send a press release about it to the local press and radio and, if appropriate, make sure people have to call at your business in order to enter – which gives you a chance to promote your business to them in person. Invite the local press to be present when the prize is awarded, to get some more free publicity.
11. Open House. Host an open evening at your premises. Invite both potential and regular customers for drinks and nibbles and a chance to see/test your latest products, with a discount for purchases or orders placed on the night.
12. Join an Online Booking Service. If you run a hospitality business (hotel, bar, pub, café or coffee shop) consider joining one of the online booking services, such as Top Table, or Gourmet Society. This will bring you to the attention of travelers from other areas who might not otherwise find you, and you can also offer special deals through some sites. This can be a two-edged sword, of course, as the site will probably also carry reviews by your customers – but if you offer high-quality service and excellent food and drink, good reviews will boost your reputation.
13. Carry Out a Survey. Have a supply of small cards by the till as each customer completes their transaction with you, asking the customer to complete a short survey on their experience with your business, and to fill in their details (especially email address). Offer a small monthly prize as an incentive. This will not only give you valuable feedback on your success (or otherwise), but you will build up a database of email addresses, which you can use for promotional emails, newsletters etc. For ideas on how to use these, click on.
14. Collect Business Cards. Copy those city centre restaurants and have a large glass bowl by the cash desk, to collect business cards (or hand-written contact details slips) from customers, with a monthly draw for, say, a free bottle of wine or champagne – this is another way of building a database for future marketing activities.
15. New Image Party. When you re-decorate your premises, hold a “New Image” party, inviting local press, radio, community dignitaries, neighbours, the general public and previous customers from your database, to show off your new premises, and launch new products or services.
16. Professional Brochure or Leaflet. With desktop publishing software available on every PC and laptop, there is no excuse for unprofessional looking publicity material. Have a nit-picking friend read through any leaflet/flyer/ poster you propose to use, to check for grammatical, punctuation and spelling mistakes.
17. Error-free Website. The same applies to your website – your professionalism is in doubt right away if your website is riddled with typing errors, misplaced apostrophes, poor punctuation and grammatical mistakes. Don’t assume your website designer will correct your text – he or she is an expert in computers not grammar. If you can’t afford a proofreader, ask a fussy friend or relation to check it for you.
18. Superior Telephone Service. Is your telephone system as good as it could be? During working hours, make sure every call is answered within 3 rings and that the greeting you give is friendly and personal. Ensure that the person who answers your calls is trained to deal with the majority of customers’ questions themselves. After hours or at busy times, make sure your answerphone message is professional, helpful, and proactive. Not just “please leave a message” but “we are so sorry that no-one is able to help you right away, but we promise to call you back by 9:30am tomorrow if you would be kind enough to leave your number” or something similar. And make certain you always deliver on that promise.
19. Community Visibility. Join fellow Business people at the local Chamber of Commerce, Business Clubs, Rotary Club, Round Table etc. Get involved in local charity events, so you gain a positive reputation for contributing to the community.
20. Get Involved in Local Events and Activities. If there is a community event in your town, make sure you are there to publicise your business – maybe you can have small samples to give away, or hand out a voucher for a discount at your business. If there is a local charity event, take part yourself (or sponsor someone else to do so) carrying/wearing your business name.
I really hope you enjoyed those 20 tips. Just one that works should help you to explode your profits!
Would you like tip 21 to 70? If so head to http://www.marketingbrainstorm.com/blog to download the full ebook 70 Marketing Ideas: That Won’t Break The Bank. It’s completely free.
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Small Business Marketing – 20 Low Cost Marketing Ideas to Grab You More Clients
Posted: 29 Aug 2011 08:34 AM PDT
SEOptimizationWhat’s the first thing you think of when writing with keywords? Probably one of the first is that keywords and phrases are descriptive of the products and/or services you’re writing about. But, what happens in those circumstances where you can’t (or don’t really want to) use your chosen keyphrases descriptively?
Is Your Product/Service Really Cheap?
One of the primary things that causes this dilemma is the word “cheap.” There’s a big difference between somebody typing “cheap travel insurance” into a search engine query field and you calling your own insurance cheap. Nobody really wants “cheap” insurance. That brings up images of companies that go out of business, don’t return calls, fight you on paying claims, etc.
What customers want is inexpensive or affordable insurance. Problem is, in their haste, they type in the first thing that comes to mind. Average Joe doesn’t understand that search engines are (in part) matching the words in their query to words on web pages. “Cheap travel insurance” may be the keyphrase you want and need to target, but you certainly don’t want to label your own product as “cheap.” What else can you do?
Use that search term with the opposite meaning.
Perhaps your copy could read something like this:
Affordable? Budget-friendly? Absolutely! But this is certainly not cheap travel insurance. Coverage is underwritten by one of the most trusted and well-respected companies. With this policy, you’ll find benefits comparable to more expensive coverage, but with rates at, or below what the cheap travel insurance companies charge.
See the difference? Instead of writing “We sell cheap travel insurance,” and degrading your product in the eyes of your customer, you actually use the search term to elevate your product to a higher level of quality.
Legalities That Get in the Way
Another issue with many keyphrases is that they violate government regulations if used to describe a product. You find this often with health supplements. The FDA (and other such agencies around the world) has a long list of what manufacturers can and cannot say with regard to their products. This is mainly in an effort to protect the consumer against snake oil salesmen who make fraudulent claims.
For instance, you cannot call your supplement a cure. In many countries you can’t even call your product a remedy. And so, you face the issue with those ever-popular search terms that use “remedy” and other such words within them.
One of my favorite techniques is to ask questions that incorporate these keywords.
You can’t legally say, “Here’s a new heartburn remedy we’ve just released.” But you can ask questions like:
Tired of that same old heartburn remedy that doesn’t work? Wish someone would create something new?
Looking for a heartburn remedy that doesn’t require a prescription?
Is your heartburn remedy falling short?
You’re not saying *your* product is a heartburn remedy; you’re just asking questions about what the customer might want or need.
When you’re writing with keywords, you really have to think outside the box. We typically get stuck and have tunnel vision when we write SEO copy. The keywords get inserted the same way over and over. But there are so many different methods (like the one listed above) for using search terms when you write.
If you diversify your SEO writing skills, you’ll find your copy becomes more natural-sounding and is able to communicate its message better. Why stick to just one ordinary way to write with keywords when there are so many to choose from?
Stop struggling to make keywords fit. Do it the easy way with Karon’s 11 proven techniques for writing naturally with keywords. http://www.WritingWithKeywords.com
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How to Optimize Copy When You Can’t Use Keywords
Posted: 28 Aug 2011 10:00 PM PDT
spn_exclusiveWhat’s a QR code?
A QR code (Quick Response Code) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is machine readable and designed to be read by smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded may be text, a URL, or other data.
Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. The QR code was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. (Source: Wikipedia)
You can view an image of QR code here.
Editor’s Note: You can also visit www.sitepronews.com to view and scan the QR Codes near the bottom of our homepage.
Basically, a QR code is a sophisticated bar code. So what makes QR codes different than the typical bar codes you see on food products and other items?
Typical bar codes are linear one-dimensional codes and can only hold up to 20 numerical digits, whereas QR codes are two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcodes that can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information. (Source: How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business)
In fact, it’s their ability to hold significantly more information, as well as their user-friendliness which makes QR codes practical for individuals and businesses of all sizes.
QR codes can be scanned and read by camera-equipped smartphones via software that’s already installed on your phone, or with an application that you download such as Lynkee Reader or i-nigma Reader, which are compatible with a wide variety of modern smartphones including iPhone, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, HTC, Motorola and Nokia. The readers/scanners give smartphone users the ability to read a QR code without special equipment.
For example, you could walk into a store, use your smartphone to scan an item that has a QR code on it, and have immediate access to the information.
I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention proprietary technology. These are closed-end solutions that are tied to specific reader/scanner applications, limiting their distribution. For example, Microsoft Tags. Conversely, QR codes, which are an open-source technology, can be created and scanned using a variety of mobile apps, giving you much greater flexibility.
Popular for many years in Japan, in the last year or so, QR codes have started to gain traction in the U.S. In fact, according to a report by Mobio Identity Systems, QR code usage increased by nearly 4600 percent from 2010 to 2011 in the U.S. That’s not just a huge jump, that’s a quantum leap!
Following are 10 ways you can use QR codes to promote your business:
1. Increase Website Sales. Did you know QR codes can lead to specific URL’s? You can create codes that are specific to certain products on your site. For example, new or slow-moving products – or new product launches.
2. Build Your E-mail Subscriber List. You can build your e-mail subscriber list by creating a link to your e-mail signup form. Just make sure you give people a compelling reason to subscribe to your newsletter. Just like you don’t like having your time wasted on trivial pursuits, neither do others.
3. Business Cards. Rather than overload your business card with a ton of information, you can just include the bare minimum, then create a QR code that leads people to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn pages, etc.
4. Contests, Discounts, Sweepstakes and Giveaways. These are a great hook and can be very effective when used in conjunction with QR codes. For example, you can create promotions that are specific to the QR codes. You can place these codes in your advertisements or post them on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, where they have the possibility of going viral.
5. Direct Mail. I just read an article titled Why There’s a Direct Mail QR Code Explosion Happening Now that says the U.S. Postal Service is basically paying advertisers to use QR codes. If you use direct mail to promote your business, you should definitely look into it.
According to the article, now through the end of August, the USPS is giving bulk mailers a discount on their postal rate if they include a visible QR code on their direct mail pieces. Obviously, there are some rules. For example, in order for the mailer to get the postal discount, the codes have to be relevant to the DM piece and not just some random link in order for the mailer to get the postal discount. It appears a lot of the big direct mail marketers are taking advantage of the discount.
6. E-courses. Are you an expert at something? You can create a QR code that generates an e-mail that instructs your autoresponder to automatically start sending daily, weekly or monthly e-mails that contain course lessons and other pertinent information.
7. Flyers. Yes, people still use flyers to promote their business. For example, suppose you own a restaurant. You could create a QR code that goes directly to a URL that gives a discount on a meal and directions to your restaurant.
8. Scratch and Win Cards Promotion. Have you ever seen how excited people get when they’re scratching one of those cards? Even if they don’t win, they’re excited by the mere possibility “they could win!” You could add to their excitement by making them scan the card to see if they’ve won.
9. Free Downloads. If you use e-books or software to promote your business, you could use QR codes to distribute them. When customers scan the code, give them a free e-book or software download. You could also offer customers the opportunity to receive future specials if they sign up for your newsletter. Now that’s incentive!
10. Customer Service Help. You could use QR codes to give customers more information about your product or service. Create a QR code that leads to a FAQ page where customers can get answers to their questions via email or live chat. You can also give customers a “heads up” on future products.
If you are interested in generating and distributing your own QR code, you can do so at: http://qrcode.kaywa.com.
David Jackson is a marketing consultant, and the owner of Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com – Powerful, free marketing tips to help grow your business! http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

QR Codes: What They Are and How to Use Them – A SPN Exclusive Article
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