Posts Tagged ‘online marketing’

Weekly Roundup: Video Resources

If you are thinking about adding video to your marketing materials but are lost how to start or want some tips for better video, check out these two resources.

Add Video to Your Marketing Toolbox Presentation

This first resource is the slideshow from a video workshop we presented in October. We will be adding audio shortly but the slides are pretty clear so should be enough to get you started.

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Weekly Roundup: Facebook Groups, Ads and Apps

New Facebook Groups Could Be Big for Business

Oops! Mark did it again…That’s right Facebook rolled out more new stuff last week. Normally I wouldn’t pay a lot of attention to the hype this new groups feature has got me thinking thanks to this article. It certainly provides a way to connect more closely with targeted groups in your business. (And not that groups are anything new, hello Google, LinkedIn, and Yahoo.) However, there are a lot of people on Facebook and many of them only want to be on Facebook so it is worth taking a look.

7 Tips to Mastering Facebook Advertising

I have been talking with several clients about the power Facebook advertising especially when you need to reach a very specific audience. In fact, I just helped a client set up her first campaign last week. She was more than a little confused by the process and I found it timely to see this article published. If you are thinking about dabbling in Facebook ads or just want to know more, this a great article to get you started.

How to Turbo-Boost Your Facebook Page With Apps

If you have been struggling with what to do with your Facebook page or how to really get your fans involved, check out this article. It has a couple of nuggets—I specifically ate up the idea of hosting weekly live chats on your page. What an excellent way to connect with current customers whether it is for product support, to share something new, or just chat. The post is available both in text and video format so you can pick the format that is best for you.

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Weekly Roundup: Following the Crowd, Marketing Trends

5 Trends that Will Shape Small Business in 2011

I don’t like to follow trends just for the sake of being trendy; however I do like to know what other people see as trends—it helps me determine which direction the marketing/business wind will blow. It is also fun to see how your own thoughts match up to those of the experts.

Overall, this article is fairly vanilla in its predictions. The last one about trusted networks as being a source of filtering information did catch my eye. It is an idea I have been exploring myself—I am working to position 910 West in just that position. It is a strategy that many businesses can use to help build their own street cred without having to create mountains of content.

Is Twitter for Business Even Worth the Trouble?

One trend that I have been watching and talking about a lot lately is the usefulness/longevity of Twitter. It seems that we are on the down side of the Twitter trend though there are still many prominent people who are Tweeting. This provides statistics about actual reach of Twitter (it is a lot smaller than you think) and asks whether it is a viable alternative to something like Facebook.

Why Social Supports Email in the Interactive Marketing Hub

Email is another marketing tool that has had its future questioned. I have been watching the debate closely because it success really is a mixed bag. In certain specific circumstances, I think it is a brilliant way to connect with clients and prospects. This article says much the same but he provides a lot more supporting evidence than I do.

Weekly Roundup: Facebook Places

I only have two articles this week but on a pretty important topic, Facebook Places. Use the extra time to start or claim your own places listing. To help you out, I’m including a link to the official Facebook Places FAQ.

5 Reasons Why Facebook Places Is Kind of a Big Deal

If you aren’t familiar with Facebook Places yet, then this article will get you started. It gives some basics about Places and why it’s a big deal for businesses.

The Video Guide to Facebook Places for Businesses

This video not explains what Facebook Places means to your business it also discusses privacy settings (something you should pay special attention to on Facebook).

Optimize Your Business with Local Search Slideshow

Weekly Roundup: Outside the Box Social Media Uses

This week we have a couple of articles that offer up some overlooked uses for social media: surveys, customer retention, and reviews.

How to Supercharge Your Social Media Presence With Online Surveys

Online surveys are the perfect tool to get to know your audience. Audience intel is priceless is helping you understand how they think, buy, and interact. This article offers lots of advice for administering online surveys using social media and even lists questions to ask.

How to Measure Social Media’s Impact on Customer Retention

Most business owners think of social media as way to get new customers. To me, it is a much better tool for building relationships with current customers (customer retention). It offers an easy, unintrusive way to stay in touch and solve any service issues. This article lists 7 key metrics for measuring social media’s impact on keeping customers.

5 Ways to Get Rockin Reviews

Reviews are an amazing marketing tool. What better way to tell prospects how great you are than to have someone else do it for you. If you are not conducting some type of review campaign then you should be. It’s unbelievably easy with the tools available and will not only help sales but can also boost your search engine rankings. This article gives you several tips for making the most of referrals using both traditional and online marketing.

Weekly Roundup: All About Facebook

Facebook is still the hottest (and most difficult) marketing game in town. These articles provide some strong how-tos and ideas to improve your presence and engage your fans.

Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide

You will find this article helpful, even if you are already using Facebook as a marketing tool. The first half covers how to adjust the privacy settings on your personal profile to prevent any questionable info getting out to your business contacts. I get asked this question all the time and this walks you through the process step-by-step. It is a must-read for anyone using Facebook for business.

8 Powerful Ways to Use Facebook Landing Tabs

I have been talking a lot lately (both in this blog and in person) about jazzing up your Facebook business page. Custom landing tabs are the absolute best way to make your page stand out and grab visitors’ attention. Read this article for ideas on using landing tabs in your Facebook business page.

The Inside Scoop on How Intel Manages Its Facebook Page

I was skeptical when I first started reading this article. Intel is such a large company that I wondered if anything that they did (with their giant budgets) would be realistic for more small business clients. The theme of the article is engagement and that is something that can be done with any budget. If you are having trouble engaging your fans (getting them to respond to you), then this article will give you some ideas on how to solve that problem.

Weekly Roundup: Landing Pages, Event Marketing, and Ignoring Social Media Truths

In addition to social media, this week we cover two other powerful marketing tools—landing pages and events. The latter has a strong social media slant for those needing a fix but it should get you thinking outside of Twitter and Facebook marketing for at least a minute.

Landing Pages Are Your Secret Conversion Weapon

Landing pages are an interesting part of the marketing tool box. They have been done poorly for so long (think MLM and direct sales pages) that they are easy to dismiss as cheesy. On the other hand, a well-thought-out page may be just the thing to convert a looker to a buyer. I have recently advised several clients to add strategically created landing pages to their marketing tool box—should you add them too?

12 Ways to Market Your Event With Social Media

I have worked on two sides of the event marketing industry—as a part of the marketing team and also as a presenter. Getting the word out about your event to the right people is crucial for success. Social media presents us with a whole realm of possibilities and people to target. This article provides concrete suggestions on how to use social media to market your event. This is a must-read for event planners and business owners who host events.

7 Social Media Truths You Can Ignore and Still be Successful

If you are just starting out in social media or feel like your efforts are drifting, check out this article to learn what is important and what you can ignore.

How to Create a Google Places Listing

In a previous series, we covered how to Optimize Your Business for Local Search. Creating a strong Google Business listing (using Google Places) is an important part of that process. We created this quick presentation, to show how to make the most of your Google Places Business listing. It is a short video and the process is pretty easy. The whole thing should take you less than an hour—happy optimizing!

Weekly Roundup: Branding, Facebook Success and More From Blogs

This week’s roundup is a strange mix of marketing advice and how-tos. I am not going to say more than that…read on and judge for yourself.

Mundane Marketing Magic
This article caught my attention because I have recently been asked to bid on a re-branding project and have the topic on my mind. It is a good reminder because I get so caught up in the day-to-day tasks of running a business that I forget that everything I do is a reflection of my brand. When I am on a deadline I am more worried about getting stuff done, than how I am doing it reflects on my company. This article is a good reminder that everything we do in our business is marketing and should reflect your brand.

Hiring a Designer? Eight Things to Look For
If you are thinking about re-branding your business or simply creating a new marketing piece, changes are you will need the help of a graphic designer. Use this article to help you pick a good one!

4 Proven Steps to Facebook Page Success
As a nod to our two very successful Facebook Page workshops last week, this article will help you get started if you find yourself struggling with what to put on the page. It presents a simple formula and makes it easy to make a great Facebook Business Page.

3 Simple Ways to Re-purpose Your Blog Posts for More Exposure
If you are already blogging, then pat yourself on the back. Simply put, it is the easiest, quickest way to make your website a traffic magnet. This article gives you ideas of how you take those posts and give them legs—submitting posts to article directories (linking opportunity anyone?), creating an audio version, or share it with the world.