Online marketing and advertising has changed drastically over the last several years. Now, it’s easier and cheaper for small businesses to get in the game and compete with big business. We want to help you get in the game.
On their own, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media integration offer small business marketers attractive opportunities for reaching new customers.
Many small businesses are scrambling over social media, trying to figure out how to boost sales and keep the customers they have. SEO combined with social media integration is an online marketing tactic that’s become an established part of the online marketing mix.
Too many choices in advertising, marketing, social media, online promotions, offline promotions? You may be experiencing decision overload and/or analysis paralysis.
Here are a few tips that might help:
- decide which choices matter most and focus your energy there
- be proactive and not reactive in making your choices
- make your choices, don’t let your choices make you
- take accountability for your choices
- build trustworthy relationships with people who can help you make choices in areas you are weak
- be honest about your choices, you’ll sleep better at night
Here are some motivational sayings and inspirational quips I have collected over the years. I apologize ahead of time for not being able to credit the authors. If you know who said it, leave me a comment and I’ll give the appropriate credit.
How you start is how you finish.
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Every day I get up and look at the Forbes list of the world’s richest people. If my name is not on the list, I go to work.
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The will to win is important. The will to prepare is vital.
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Rich people have money. Wealthy people have time.
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The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
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There’s no easier money to make than the money money makes.
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Goal begins with GO.
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It’s easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.
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I hope one or more of these inspirational sayings helps motivate you in the right direction today. Have a successful day!
Most people don’t get married after the first date. It takes time to build a trustworthy relationship.
Traditional marketing and advertising still works. However, companies who are aware they need to strengthen their brands through social media relationships with consumers are more likely to prosper no matter what we hear on the news about the economy.
So, exactly what is social media? If you don’t know what social media is, consider this your first date.
Facebook is the current network of choice for most people with over 250 million active users. Facebook has tools in place that lets you hone in on target demographics of the people you want to reach. Get involved by setting up a personal page then a page or group for your company. Do you have a Facebook page?
Twitter is good for is keeping people informed and establishing fun and interesting relationships between current or potential clients and your brand by creating links to your website or other social media sites. Don’t plug your products and services with every tweet. Keep it fun and informative. Are you tweeting yet?
Not having a vision means that there’s plenty of room for whining, for infighting and for dissolution.
A solid vision keeps everyone on track; chaos takes over wherever the vision lapses. Having a vision not only points everyone in the same direction, it also creates motion.
While motion in any direction is often better than no motion at all, motion with vision creates synergy. Synergy inspires a team to work together to produce an overall better result than working individually.
Marketing has traditionally focused on the Four Ps – Pricing, Product, Promotion, and Place.
But in today’s demanding environment, marketers need to be focused on an additional set of letters – three Os and an I: Online, Offline, Outbound, and Inbound.
These letters represent new channels for marketing and new challenges for coordination, management, and measurement.
If you’re not online and generating inbound traffic, you might find your business offline and outbound for failure.
Are you ready for the three Os and the I? Ready or not, they’re here.
If you are finally ready to get serious about social media, here are four key steps to help you develop an effective strategy:
Step 1: Assess your findability. Where do your customers go online when they’re looking for your product category? Go there and see if you can find you.
Step 2: Establish credibility. It is of the utmost importance to establish trust and credibility in social media. If you talk about how your company or brand is the best, you’ll fail at both. Just like a real conversation, you should provide value and expertise, be transparent and identify yourself as a representative of the brand. Your goal should be to participate in the conversation and provide a credible viewpoint.
Step 3: Enhance reality. This is your opportunity to be an expert where you are an expert… not in a boastful way… in a knowledgeable way that can truly help others. Being an expert, without coming across as an expert, will go a long way to enhancing the reality of your brand image in social media.
Step 4: Measure Impeccability. Monitor your online reputation. Gauge your online reputation by utilizing website analytics tools to measure visitors’ time on your site, bounce rate and referring traffic data. Be sure to establish a baseline at the beginning of each social media campaign so you can accurately measure results.
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There’s a lot more to social media than merely creating a Facebook page. Social media offers tremendous opportunity. So, are you dating social media or are you ready to get married? Those who get serious with social media will derive serious value from it. It’s that simple.
Perception is reality…Â a direct mail piece is your target customers’ perception of your business.
Your mail piece is competing for the attention of EVERYTHING ELSE that arrives in the mailbox with it.
You need a quality direct mail piece — a mail piece that stands out in this marketing medium. Instead of “how cheap can I send this?” instead ask yourself, “How much do I need to spend to get my mail piece to the top of the stack?”
With the decrease in marketers sending out direct mail, right now is the perfect time to land in mail boxes with your mail piece.
Brand relationships are hard work… especially in this competitive economy.
That means you can’t just let your brand sit around on the couch all day eating snacks and watching movies.
Shape up! Get up on that metaphorical treadmill and keep your brand in shape by keeping up with the latest marketing trends and embracing the new wave of social media. It’s time to embrace ideas that will keep your brand near and dear to the hearts and minds of your prospects.
Please… if you don’t get help with your brand at YourAdTeam, get help somewhere.
