Facebook Like
You have seen the Facebook “Like” widgets on every blog, business page and piece of content on the Internet. Someone somewhere wants you to make them feel accepted, if only virtually. The hidden message behind the “Like” button is businesses not only want you to like a product or service, they want you to come back and spend your money. They want a way to create brand loyalty in a marketplace where, in order to stand out, you must stand out from your competition.
1. Create a Compelling Facebook Account for Your Business
Facebook by far has the largest reach of any social media outlet. Within the coming months, more than 1 billion users will share, talk and communicate across the social network. How do you cash in on this piece of the pie? You must create a compelling Facebook page solely for your business. Remember this is business, not personal. Do not intermingle your personal account and a fan page. You want to the selling point of your page to be your brand, not yourself. Ensure you have strict attention to detail regarding the administration of your page. Utilize privacy features such as editing friend’s lists, turning off photo tagging and photo sharing and content sharing. You have worked hard for your brand, don’t just give it away.
2. Acknowledge Your Socioeconomic Base
A question you should ask yourself on a constant basis is, “Who are my customers?” If you don’t know anything about who you are marketing to, you will never have the ability to convert a “like” into increased traffic and eventually improved sales and profit. A successful campaign includes the customers that you market to on a regular basis. When you establish the base, you then branch out to seek additional customers. You can’t reach to new customers first in the event this deters your loyal base.
3. Create an Offer to Drive Traffic
Everyone likes something free. Typically, when a business offers free items, traffic increases, but only for a small amount of time. Free offers are not a sustainable business tactic. In order to drive traffic and convert “likes,” businesses must create offers that drive traffic back to the site and get people talking about the brand. The goal is for customers to inform friends and drive additional traffic.
4. Promotion and Fan Engagement
When businesses want to convert “likes,” a key factor needed to drive success is promotion. Although “likes” are associated with Facebook, businesses must have a presence across all social media avenues as well as traditional venues. Consider using Twitter, Google + and LinkedIn on the social media side. In-person visits to business conventions are an ideal networking tool, plus it allows customers to put a face to a business.
When customers put a face to a business, they become more engaged in a brand. Fan engagement is vital, simply because they are the ones driving your bottom line. Always remember to interact with fans. Ask their opinions, and ask them to join the conversation. When they feel as if they have a say, they are more likely to embrace the brand.
5. Strong Follow-up
Any campaign can work once, but can you repeat the same results? The results of your success should be repeated, not the campaign itself. Consider email marketing as an option to create intriguing content to push people toward your Facebook pages. When a business repeats the same campaign multiple times, you are telling the customer you no longer are fresh and relevant. Select a timeframe and change your campaign according to plan. When you make the changes, you ensure an increase in engagement which results in a higher “like” conversion rate.
Now that you have your strategy in place, what are you going to do with it? Don’t accept anything less than you expect. Would you rather have 10,000 “likes” or 1,000 repeat customers that talk about your brand and bring in new business? Remember, anyone on the Internet can “like” something. Your goal is to convert those likes into brand loyalty and eventually repeat business.
According to a February 2012 survey conducted by Merchant Circle, 70 percent of small business owners are using Facebook as part of their arsenal for marketing local deals. While some old-school businesses may still dismiss social media promotion as a fad that will eventually go the way of butterfly collars and MySpace, it would appear as though social media marketing is here to stay.
Leading by example
Melrose Jewelers, an online jewelry retail company, started with only 1,000 fans, but created a plan to draw more fans and, of course, an increase in sales. The retailer’s plan used a Facebook app that encouraged people to take a personality survey and post the results on their walls. This in turn encouraged others to share the personality survey app.
After five months, the retailer’s fan base grew to over 70,000. The company’s CEO estimated that Facebook fans alone spent $100,000 in December 2011. By providing a survey and deals, the online retailer created loyal customers through social media.
How it’s done
According to a Social Media Examiner report, 90 percent of marketers consider social media to be an important marketing tool for businesses. If a marketer wants to create a strong social media presence, he or she must create a marketing plan that draws people in. The marketing plan should offer specials, but should also include a fun survey or contest for a discounted or free item, with the objective of directing traffic to the retailer’s website to make a purchase.
Marketers might offer special sales through their social media pages to keep customers coming back for more. The special sale encourages a customer to purchase the sales item, along with other things. Businesses should market with an eye on creating lifelong customers. This means that someone must monitor the social media page and be ready to offer top-notch customer service and information regarding that business’s services and goods.
Why it’s effective
1. Attracts new customers and increases traffic to website.
For those who have decided to attract customers through social media, statistics show that 88 percent stated that social media sites generated exposure for their business. About 72 percent said they saw increased traffic and subscribers to their site.
2. Improves search rankings.
Improvement in search rankings is an important aspect of marketing. When a potential customer searches on the Internet, he or she will not usually look past the first two or three pages of search results. Many simply click the first link that they see. If consumers can’t find the company they are looking for, they are essentially lost revenue for the company in question. Using social media as a marketing tool allows for a 62 percent increase in search rankings.
3. Generate qualified leads.
To sell services or goods, a business needs qualified leads. A qualified lead is a person or business who has the budget, buying authority and need for the product or service. That lead must also meet a business’s customer profile. The average business using social media as a marketing tool found that the social media sites generated 51 percent of that business’s qualified leads. Sales improved by 43 percent because businesses used social media.
4. Save money.
Using social media also reduces marketing expenses. 49 percent of those surveyed said that using social media reduced overall marketing expenses.
With a good social media presence, a business not only increases sales, but decreases advertising and marketing expenses. It also creates customers for life through social media, which allows companies to offer more local deals to draw in more customers for life. With all of these benefits, what’s holding you back? Open a few social media accounts and get to work!
According to a February 2012 survey conducted by Merchant Circle, 70 percent of small business owners are using Facebook as part of their arsenal for marketing local deals. While some old-school businesses may still dismiss social media promotion as a fad that will eventually go the way of butterfly collars and MySpace, it would appear as though social media marketing is here to stay.
Leading by example
Melrose Jewelers, an online jewelry retail company, started with only 1,000 fans, but created a plan to draw more fans and, of course, an increase in sales. The retailer’s plan used a Facebook app that encouraged people to take a personality survey and post the results on their walls. This in turn encouraged others to share the personality survey app.
After five months, the retailer’s fan base grew to over 70,000. The company’s CEO estimated that Facebook fans alone spent $100,000 in December 2011. By providing a survey and deals, the online retailer created loyal customers through social media.
How it’s done
According to a Social Media Examiner report, 90 percent of marketers consider social media to be an important marketing tool for businesses. If a marketer wants to create a strong social media presence, he or she must create a marketing plan that draws people in. The marketing plan should offer specials, but should also include a fun survey or contest for a discounted or free item, with the objective of directing traffic to the retailer’s website to make a purchase.
Marketers might offer special sales through their social media pages to keep customers coming back for more. The special sale encourages a customer to purchase the sales item, along with other things. Businesses should market with an eye on creating lifelong customers. This means that someone must monitor the social media page and be ready to offer top-notch customer service and information regarding that business’s services and goods.
Why it’s effective
1. Attracts new customers and increases traffic to website.
For those who have decided to attract customers through social media, statistics show that 88 percent stated that social media sites generated exposure for their business. About 72 percent said they saw increased traffic and subscribers to their site.
2. Improves search rankings.
Improvement in search rankings is an important aspect of marketing. When a potential customer searches on the Internet, he or she will not usually look past the first two or three pages of search results. Many simply click the first link that they see. If consumers can’t find the company they are looking for, they are essentially lost revenue for the company in question. Using social media as a marketing tool allows for a 62 percent increase in search rankings.
3. Generate qualified leads.
To sell services or goods, a business needs qualified leads. A qualified lead is a person or business who has the budget, buying authority and need for the product or service. That lead must also meet a business’s customer profile. The average business using social media as a marketing tool found that the social media sites generated 51 percent of that business’s qualified leads. Sales improved by 43 percent because businesses used social media.
4. Save money.
Using social media also reduces marketing expenses. 49 percent of those surveyed said that using social media reduced overall marketing expenses.
With a good social media presence, a business not only increases sales, but decreases advertising and marketing expenses. It also creates customers for life through social media, which allows companies to offer more local deals to draw in more customers for life. With all of these benefits, what’s holding you back? Open a few social media accounts and get to work!
Many companies have jumped on the Groupon bandwagon in recent years. This website, which offer group discounts at participating businesses, has become an effective way to save money during difficult financial times. However, there have been numerous cases reported by various agencies including Technology Review that while these special deals may work out well for businesses in the short-term, over the long-term they may be more damaging than other methods of advertising and promotion.
Coupons and Customer Loyalty
There is evidence that suggests that new customers may try a product because they have been offered a special deal, but then never try it again. This causes customer retention rates to waver with companies who have participated in these deals. Instead of a flash-in-the-pan deal, why not have regular offers for reduced prices, special deals or promotions to encourage regular customers to try new products or services? This may be a better long-term strategy for businesses who are interested in building a solid returning customer base.
An alternate idea is to create marketing campaigns using printable coupons for a variety of products, in order to appeal to a wider audience and gain new customers. This strategy will disperse customer spending throughout your inventory, rather that highlighting one product or service at the expense of others.
Developing a good relationship with existing clients, running promotions that are specifically geared towards these customers may be more beneficial to retail outlets and specialty shops. In some instances, offering an existing customer discounts towards a new service or a discount for bringing in a new customer can be more beneficial than attracting new customers with online specials.
Social Media and Promotions
Social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter provide business owners an opportunity to tap into consumer markets to boost brand awareness. Oftentimes, the users of these sites will share information about products or services they find worthy with their friends and followers; this is great word-of-mouth advertising and for most businesses, it is also cost effective and can save some of the problems that can be caused by individual special deals, such as customers only coming in for one deal and leaving without perusing the rest that the given business has to offer.
Cost Versus Risk
Many popular sites that offer deals charge businesses a portion of sales to run promotions. One of the challenges with these promotions is that oftentimes, the limited nature of them will drive customers in the door and cause difficulties for regular customers. Combine that with the potential of not planning for an onslaught of new business, and the potential of doing more harm than good grows exponentially.
If you are a small business owner, sites such as Groupon may seem appealing. After all, saving money has become a way of life for many consumers, and this change in perspective has undoubtedly had an impact on businesses such as yours. However, by being aware of the possible downside to these promotions and planning accordingly, you can be sure of building a loyal customer base that will keep coming back for more. Best of luck!
SMS marketing campaigns offer businesses some of the best return on investment in the world of marketing today. With more than 2.4 billion mobile phone users in the world, marketers can easily introduce and promote their products and services to a larger audience. Short message service (SMS) marketing focuses on the use of text messaging to spread a message. Mobile marketing has far more advantages than traditional marketing methods, including customization, lower costs and easy tracking – thereby reducing manpower and giving the entrepreneur bigger profits and better business benefits.
Pros of Text Marketing
Increase brand exposure. Text marketing is the ideal tool for both national and local retailers who wish to promote products and services, offer specials or incentives and strengthen customer loyalty. For example, retailers can send coupon codes to their subscribers that are inserted directly into a text message.
Provide mass alert status. More than 80 percent of people carry their cell phone with them the majority of the time. Sending a text message to their mobile devices is the perfect way to alert clients or subscribers of urgent information, such as a product that is ready for pick-up. School systems can also use this text software to alert parents of school closings or changes in schedules.
Convenient to use and track. Mobile phone screens are small, limiting the scope of content that is displayed. Content creators can keep the information basic or even begin a direct dialogue with the customer, gaining instant feedback via SMS. User response can be tracked almost instantly, allowing mobile marketers to better understanding user behavior.
Cons of Text Marketing
Mobile platforms are diverse. Compared to standard PCs and laptop computers, mobile devices do not have any specific standard. They come in various sizes and shapes and the screen size is not consistent. With so many mobile browsers and operating systems, it can be difficult to create one campaign that fits them all.
Security and privacy issues. Mobile marketers must respect that users want to maintain their privacy. Promotional activity should only be transferred to users who have granted the business permission to do so. Text marketing can seem invasive to some customers, especially if they are charged by their service provider for a message from a business that they did not authorize.
Text message limitations. Standard text messages only allow a maximum of 160 characters, which means that it can be difficult to get a complete message or service ad to subscribers. Sending multiple text messages as a way to continue a message may seem too aggressive by the customer.
Mobile marketing has revolutionized the way that advertisements are being promoted, breaking the barriers of traditional spot advertising. With the help of mobile marketing, businesses can reach people directly and be more personal in the way that they promote their products and services. Gone are the days when mobile phones were just used to make and receive calls. The emergence of advanced technologies has brought about a host of fresh features and functionalities that have redefined the necessity of mobile devices. Mobile marketing is one such practice that is gaining momentum in the modern business world.
In a recent TED Talk, biologist and journalist John Bohannon proposed in a very unique manner that more creativity needs to be used in the workplace. Using dancers to illustrate his point, this creator of the Dance Your Ph.D. contest feels that traditional methods of conveying information in the workplace, such as PowerPoint, are a waste of time and money.
“I think that bad PowerPoint presentations are a serious threat to the global economy,” he said to a round of applause. “One estimate has put the drain at $250 million per day. That assumes half-hour presentations for an average audience of four people, with salaries of $35,000. It conservatively assumes that about a quarter of the presentations are a complete waste of time. Given that there are some 30 million PowerPoint presentations created every day, that would indeed add up to an annual waste of $100 billion.
“Of course, that’s just the time we’re losing sitting through presentations,” Bohannon continued. “There are other costs, because PowerPoint is a tool and like any tool it can, and will, be abused. […] It helps you “soften up your audience”. It distracts them with pretty pictures, irrelevant data. It allows you to create the illusion of competence, the illusion of simplicity, and most destructively, the illusion of understanding.”
Throughout the talk, Bohannon had dancers performing a visual example of what he was discussing. When he discussed a complex scientific idea that would normally require a chemistry degree to fully understand, the dancers were able to make it easy to understand and remember. Rather than remembering complex ideas in formal language, it is easier to remember the movements and actions of the dancers.
While his ideas about conveying information using dancers were obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek, his point is a valid one. Who among us has sat through a long, tedious PowerPoint presentation, only to wonder at the end what information the presenter was trying to convey? While it is true that this is a flashy way to present information, what if as much energy went into a presentation that offered the audience a more interactive or memorable way to digest the information?
The next time that you have a big presentation at work, take the time to watch Bohannon’s TED Talk, and take from it what you will. You can not only save time by not creating the anticipated (and dreaded) PowerPoint, but add a spark of energy into an otherwise monotonous day. In doing so, you can be assured that the information you present will be absorbed and remembered, rather than ignored or forgotten within ten minutes of the conclusion of your meeting.
This will, in turn, not only set a precedent for future presentations, but also show your employer why they hired you in the first place, namely because of your creative, proactive attitude and ability to think outside of the box. Considering the still shaky nature of the job market, this creates a win-win situation for you and your employer. So ditch the PowerPoint and dust off your dance shoes. There’s a lot of work to be done!
Thomas Stone is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor at the SprightlyShopper.
How to Dominate the Field
Just like all-star athletes, booming businesses are made through big plays and going beyond what is expected of them. Neither businesses nor athletes become well-known for their average results, but for what they do on the field that is beyond average.
It is the exceptional moments that really make or break an athlete’s career, and it is the same in the business world. Making the big play on the football field is equivalent to producing amazing results and transformations for your clients.
Yes, you may be able to get by through average work or by doing what you committed to doing like you said you would, but you are guaranteed more success if you strive to go above and beyond.
People LIKE when they get what they hoped for, but they are ECSTATIC when the results exceed what they could have only dreamed of.
In order to create a truly successful business, you should always aim to surpass your clients’ expectations. It is not about just doing what you say you’ll do- that’s what’s expected. That’s just business as usual.
A potential client could go to just about anyone and be confident that they will get what they want. Some places may take longer than others, and may need a bit more direction, but in the end they will probably create the desired results.
This is where the difference between first round draft picks and 20th round draft picks come in to play.
It is pretty much guaranteed that any football player that makes it through the cuts and onto an NFL team is pretty dang good. After all, they only take the best of the best, and there are thousands of kids trying to make it pro. However, there is a reason why some people get picked right away and others get picked much later on. It is based highly upon the results that they have created for their team.
Someone who has scored a lot of touchdowns will stand out as good. However, someone who perhaps has a few less touchdowns, but who has run 98 yards to score any number of times is going to look a lot better because that is exceptional.
There are a bunch of guys out there that can push through and run in a 10 yard touchdown, but not many that can make it almost the full length of the field and do the same.
There are any number of kickers who can make the extra point, but fewer who can make a field goal from the 50 yard line.
These exceptional players, that cannot only be counted on to do what they are hired to do, but that also make big plays, are the ones that are most desirable. They are the ones that every team wants to have and that everybody wants to work with.
Again, it is the same in business. It is those businesses that go above and beyond and create truly exceptional results for their clients that everybody wants to go to.
Of course you want to do what you say you will, that’s the staying on your feet, breaking tackles and running.
But being great at what you do, providing amazing solutions that they never imagined were possible – that’s those 98 yard touchdown runs that are going to get your noticed.
Those are the things that your clients are going to tell friends and family about.
People will line up to work with you when you can produce those kinds of miracles for them. And not just that, they will rave about you and the amazing results that you have created to their friends, which will bring in even MORE clients.
Aiming to exceed rather than meet expectations is a great way to substantially increase the success of your business.
And think about this…if you don’t, then someone else will.
And where will you be then?
Stuck on the bench watching as people who were willing to put in the time and effort to go the extra mile take your place.
It’s the player who not only demonstrates that they are consistently the best – but that they are essential to the success of the people who hire them – those are the ones that continue to dominate the field and the headlines.
They are the ones that make the money, and they are the ones who are in high demand.
Same for you in your business.
Ready to stop being intimidated to talk about your prices and eliminate price resistance in your prospects at the same time? Get Your Free Training at http://www.ABetterYouCoach.com
Theresa Whiteside is the President and founder of Bizitioning™ (formerly “A Better Y
ou” Coach) Bizitioning™ is a coaching and consulting firm that works with heart-centered business owners and passionate service providers to position themselves as the obvious and automatic choice of consumers in their marketplace. She likes to say “If you’re ready to shed your invisibility cloak to step up to becoming the Oprah of your marketplace, then come with me. Because once you’ve positioned yourself to be the undeniable choice in your marketplace, people will be showing up magically to work with you…because you are resonating with your passion, and they are resonating with you.” Build Your Business Around Your Passion…Follow the Blog at http://www.DareAndDoGood.com
The world of retail has changed rapidly since the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991. Developed as a way to allow people to link to and access information on the Internet, the Web was intended to be used first and foremost as a way to organize the pool of human knowledge. But it soon developed another aspect: a method of advertising and selling goods.
Search engines soon sprang up due to the rising complexity of the web, quickly followed by people dedicated to gaming those search engines to increase their website’s standings. Through this process, however, search engine optimization (SEO) was developed as a method of building a website and external links to raise a site’s standings legitimately. Today any online retailer that wants to be successful needs to be concerned with SEO because without it few people will visit their site and their sales will suffer. Though SEO, in some fashion, is required for any retailer it’s not the end-all of online marketing and should be accompanied by a good mix of online advertising.
SEO and online advertising are analogous to the physical world practices of finding an appropriate location for a business and putting up billboards and flyers in high traffic locations. Just as most businesses in the physical world can’t be successful without employing both tactics, online retailers have to make use of SEO and advertising to become highly visible and attract business. Unlike the real world, however, SEO and online advertising can be used to directly affect each other. Some SEO tactics benefit things like email marketing campaigns, while advertising deals on specific items is one action that can attract links which will, in turn, aid SEO.
What SEO Does and How to Get Started
SEO is a way of increasing the chances that a website will be ranked highly by the major search engines (Google and Bing). The algorithms controlling each search engine’s rankings are highly complex and entirely secret, so there are no hard facts about exactly how much any one action will affect rankings, but there are some general guidelines that can help ensure higher rankings. Because of the way Google’s algorithm works, your website should be built from the ground up to provide an excellent customer experience.
Google tries to match people with the best possible result for their query, so making sure your website caters to searchers will cause Google to regard you more highly. Have deep, valuable content in the form of a regularly updated blog to show both Google and searchers that you’re knowledgeable in your field. You can even incorporate snippets of your blog posts into your marketing newsletters, piquing the recipient’s interests and drawing them to your site. Monitoring your site and its traffic closely will give you a good idea of the ways people find your site and the terms they use in search which you can use to inform your advertising campaigns.
Why You Should Include Advertising
Proper SEO tactics will make your website easy to use, helpful and engaging while increasing its visibility on search pages. So what’s left after that? Most of the top results on search engine results pages (SERPs) are pay per click (PPC) ads, so even if your site ranks at position 1 for “checkered tablecloths”, your biggest competitor’s ad could show up above your result. Further, PPC results can be seen almost immediately, so you can use PPC ads to test copy for your SEO content. PPC ads can also help you overcome negative press by offering a link to an explanatory page and, with the benefit of being above any organic results, will be one of the first links searchers see. Further, sending out advertisements and coupons for various products on ad networks and through email messages can raise interest in your website and could result in more links, increasing your SEO.
SEO and advertising are both beneficial apart, but together they form a nigh unstoppable juggernaut of visibility and user experience that can take you from a small time web store to a major player in online commerce.
If you are a man who is interested in women, dating and marketing are alike because just like a man has to court a women he has serious intentions about, a business owner must court his/her target/niche market. If you are a woman who is interested in dating men, you know that men are mostly visual creatures and are therefore first attracted to a woman by what he SEES. So, in marketing your business you know that first impressions count. Whatever it is that your potential customer will see first (your website, blog, newsletter, etc.) must be full of content and visually appealing.
Carmin Wharton is a home-based business expert and the founder of e-BlackWomenNetwork.com, a membership community designed to take businesses owned by women from start up to prosperity. Carmin’s mission is to help women earn what they’re worth and make it big in their home-based business on their own terms. Carmin is also the published author of a relationship memoir, Lessons Learned: While Looking for Love in All the Wrong Faces.
Tags: African American business women, black business women, Branding, business start up, business women, Dating, home-based business, Marketing, Relationships
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- Happy doing business
How is Sports and Marketing Alike?
By Sharron Dark
“Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.”
-Shaquille O’Neal
In today’s world both sports and marketing are alike keeping your head in the game at all times or risking the price of getting crushed. Marketing and sports have their unique attributions. Sportsmanship is like running a marathon without a cause or recognition, the same as marketing. However, football players try to score with a touch down and big plays occur swiftly.
Marketing is my field of choice to learn and grow with a company to promote their business for stamina and to turn a profit. Like players are born to run and marketers are born to succeed by staying focus. What is marketing? It’s one slice of the pie that is essential and significant. Consequently, the three ingredients of sports and marketing are awareness, effort, and conviction to kick butt and arise from the knowledge and preference to convince fans that you’re number one.
A situation analysis is including a plan for objectives to execute for players and in business. Nevertheless, there are components that must be addressed in marketing, sales promotion (like game tickets), advertising, personal selling activities.
Sports celebrities offer sponsorship marketing for good causes and marketing tactics on and off the basketball court and field. Leadership is a critical element in business markets.
Identifying your audience is an overall company success benefits like sporting events.
For example, there is a tie-in between product (nutrition) Gatorade and the athletes.
A slice-of-life of brand loyalty consumer purchases of a favorite hockey player. Practice makes a perfect common strategy for building and re-building a brand’s image.
A strong brand is the best way to make a sale and business-to-business expenditures.
Sometimes being passive like in sports in a pass rush strategy makes the game a winning success!
Tags: alike, basketball, blogging, football, Golf, hockey, Marketing, sharrondark, similar, Sports, sportsmanship, woman, Writer
