Do You Have a Long-Term Social Media Plan?

Social Media Marketing

Here is a great social media tactics article I found on Mashable. Brian Soliz gives “best practices” for integrating social media into your business marketing plan.

He makes some very valid points: Yes, you should probably be utilizing social media; but before you start jumping on all those bandwagons, it might be a good idea to make sure those are the places where your ideal customer spends some time on a regular basis.

Otherwise, you could be wasting a lot of time, speaking to an “empty room.” [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , ,

All You Need is a Thousand True Fans

1000-true-fans

I had been quite impressed with the concepts in this essay when I read it a few years back. Glad I found it again.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , ,

Google Take Pictures of Your Biz?

googlepics

If you own a business, you can apply for a free (yes FREE) Google photo shoot.

Anyone can sign up, and demand will determine where Google’s Photogs go next.

Click Here to Get Google to Your Business

 

Are You Tracking Conversions on Your Ads?

french-ad

It’s a rare occasion when I find a client (in my admittedly rural area) who is actually tracking the effectiveness of their advertising. At the very least asking customers “How did you find us?”

We’re not in the 1980′s anymore. Then, you could just wildly spend money on advertising, and because business was booming everywhere, it was BOUND to increase your business.

Not so these days. The economy demands that you promote in ways that do the best job for your needs and circumstances. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Psychology of the Purchase

The psychology in making a purchase is both simple and complex. It’s simple, because each element of the psychology is easy to understand. However, actually using it in real life and business can be pretty complex.

The most important elements behind the buying psychology?
Emotions and logic.

Buy on Emotions, Justify It with Logic

Does anyone buy a Mercedes because it logically makes sense? No – they buy a Mercedes because of the way they believe they’ll feel when they are driving the car. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , ,

Loyalty Marketing and Social Media

SXSW AmEx Foursquare Promo

SXSW brings all sorts of fun things to town; it’s not just music anymore.

Taking advantage of the hip crowds that converge on Austin this time of year, American Express has teamed up with Foursquare, a location-based social network for mobile devices. Sixty local merchants — including Whole Foods, Starwood Hotels and Stubb’s BBQ — are offering Foursquare users “spend $5, save $5″ rewards when they load the special and swipe their AmEx cards.
[Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Building a Relationship with Your Audience

communication

Make Your Writing Feel Like a Welcoming Handshake

PREselling

The goal of good writing is to communicate… to build relationships with your audience.

All day long, in your “offline life,” you do exactly that. You PREsell yourself. You build your personal “offline brand of one.” This is the image that people have of you. Building a “brand of one” is just as easy to do online through your writing.

Relax. There is no mystery to good writing. No secret society. No smoke and mirrors… [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Using Video for Smart Advertising

youtubelogo

Let’s face it – part of our job as marketers is to make things easy for customers. And one of the things people love these days is video. Does this mean we are too lazy to read? sometimes, I’m afraid it does.

But it is as it is, and if we want our message to reach current and potential customers, delivering that message in a way it will be consumed by our target audience is a very good idea.
[Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Backlinks for Mobile – Are Yours Optimized?

mobile-friendly-links

It’s Time To Optimize Your Links For Mobile

In case you haven’t noticed, some sites look fairly horrific on mobile devices. Everything is all jumbled up and that link you really want to click is almost impossible to get to. If you’re the link builder who begged and begged (and maybe even paid) to get that link, you’ve now lost a potential mobile conversion.

Maybe the user will try again on a non-mobile device; maybe not though.
[Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Social Media Marketing Benefits

social-media-marketing-benefits

Top 14 Benefits of Social Media Marketing

There’s a lot of fuss surrounding social media these days. If you still haven’t jumped on the bandwagon and aren’t sure why so many people are making such a big deal about it, here are 14 benefits of social media for your business and you from Success magazine.

For Business:

Establish a Brand and Raise Awareness

This UML diagram describes the domain of Linke...

Image via Wikipedia

Since the majority of the population is already visiting social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, getting your brand name all over those networks can help let people know that you’re around. If you have yet to create a company image online, social networks are the place to do it.
[Read more...]

Technorati Tags: , ,