I went to a marketing workshop in the Comox Valley the other night put on by Tidechage.ca and World Community featuring Sean Kerrigan of Ecopeak Web Strategy as the guest speaker talking about social media and online marketing. One of the points he made that stuck out in my head is something that any professional looking at starting an online marketing campaign of some kind should think about.
Do you have a plan or strategy in mind for your chosen online marketing efforts?
Creating a facebook page just because you heard that is what you are supposed to do is not enough. Like anything in your marketing plan the only way to get the best results is to have a well thought out plan and follow it through. Sean pointed out that once you know all that is involved you may realise that you just do not have the time or the resources available to do everything you want to. In other words “dont bite off more than you can chew” This is especially bad in the online world as we leave what is known as a digital footprint that cannot be undone! Having a bunch of social media profiles that are only half filled out with 5 or less connections can actually do more harm than good, I will be the first to admit this is an easy mistake to make. Not posting on a semi regular basis can also have a negative effect, for example if one of your past clients comes across your facebook page and your last post was over a year ago they may just assume you are out of business, this would also apply to your blog and other social networks you may have started.
The point of this post is not to deter you from taking advantage of todays online marketing tools but to encourage you to think it through, and do it right. With a good plan and strategy I have no doubt that these methods of marketing over time will end up being one of your most effective strategies ever implemented. Take the time and do it right!
Click here is a few articles on my blog that will help get you started also be sure to sign up to my Newsletter and I will send you info of the latest tips tricks and tools that will help you with your online marketing efforts.
Online marketing articles
Remember your comments and questions are always welcome
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Setup
Spend some time to fill out all the fields in the Linked in profile. Click on the link to get to the Linked in learning centre. This will give all the information you need to use Linked in effectively. http://learn.linkedin.com/new-users/
Uploading contacts
There are a few options for uploading your contacts.
Ø First, go to the top of the page and click on the contacts tab.
Ø Look for the tab that says “Add Contacts”
Ø There are 3 options to add contacts
1. Upload a contact directly from online email address
2. Upload a contact list CSV, .exe or any excel file
3. Enter emails manually
Networking
One of the best features of Linked in is being able to view other people’s contact lists. You can then request to be introduced to the contacts that you are interested in. This is a great tool for building your network.
Groups
Joining a group: Joining a group on Linked in is a great way to network, find industry partners and expose yourself to potential new customers. Look for groups that are specific to your industry and appeal to your target market.
Creating a group: Creating your own group is very easy to do on Linked and can have many benefits to. Simply click on the Groups tab, click on “Create Group” and follow the steps.
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Landing pages
A facebook landing page is an incredible way to get action from your facebook fans by turning fans into customers. Landing pages can be custom-built to build contact lists, drive traffic to your website, or even sell products and services.
Developer tools
Click on the following link to create your own custom interactive facebook applications for your website and your blog. http://developers.facebook.com/
Adding contacts
You can now add your email contact list into your facebook fan page. This is a great way to get started. Once on your fan page click on edit page/ Marketing/ tell your fans. You can then add a contact list from a file on your computer. CSV or .exe files will work. You can also add email addresses individually.
Ways to share and connect with your fans:
Share button: The share button appears in many places. You are able to share pictures, videos and notes.
Sending a message to fans: Go to edit/ marketing/ and send fans a message. This will send a letter to every one of your fans’ inbox. (Don’t over use this feature.)
Creating Notes: Creating a note is a good way share a promotion, contest, or some sort of call to action. You can add pictures to it, links, and, of course, lots of content. Once the note is created you can copy and paste the note link anywhere on facebook and it will display very nicely. People can also link to it and share it on their own wall with just one click.
Creating interactivity
Getting your fans involved as much as possible is the key to building your fan base and building quality relationships with your fans. Here are a few strategies to consider:
- Adding discussion topics
- Creating interactive contests
- Welcoming photos or video (Offering an incentive will increase results)
- Industry tips
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Online special interest groups
Join and create special interest groups on social media sites. Become a regular contributor and be sure not to take on more than you can handle.
Virtual handshake
Opportunities to meet people in special interest groups come all the time. Take the time to connect with these people and grow your network. “Meeting people and networking has never been so easy, take advantage!!”
Contest and promotions
Holding a contest, fundraiser or event every few months is a great way to keep your customers intrigued and involved. Creating a custom page on your blog explaining the details of your promotion will be a good way to drive traffic to your website. Creating a custom facebook landing page will also help turn your facebook fans into customers!
Social media updates
To save time once a week or even once a month, write out some industry tips, hot topics of conversation, jokes, etc. (whatever approach you have decided on). Make sure to comment on people’s posts and treat all questions and comments like a business enquiry. Send a direct message to all of your social media groups and fans no more than once a week to increase interactivity on your social media pages. Point them to a discussion, remind them about a contest, get their feedback on your last newsletter, make them part of the conversation.
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Email Marketing
Stay in touch with your contacts!
Email marketing programs are the best way to go. They will enable you to track who opened your emails and what action has been taken on them, brand your email, add social media tools, add newsletter sign-up forms and even send online surveys and questionnaires.
E-newsletter
Offering a monthly or quarterly newsletter will keep you on the top of people’s minds. This simple tool can help you become recognised as an expert in your field.
Newsletter creation tips:
Make sure your articles are not self-serving; this is not a sales pitch or an infomercial. The more interesting and valuable they are to your reader, the more likely they will be to read the next one and even share with others.
Keep your articles short OR only show the first paragraph or 2 and then have them link to the full article on your website or blog. The whole newsletter itself doesn’t need to be very big (1 or 2 articles) and a special offer or feature product is all that is required.
Brand your newsletter template. Make sure that people see a connection between your newsletter and the rest of your promotional material.
Some newsletter posts may also be great material for a press release. Take advantage whenever possible.
Call to action letter
Sending a letter with a specific call to action will increase response rates and build awareness of your topic. A call to action letter can be something as simple as an invite to your facebook page.
- Invite to a specific social media group or fan page
- Introduction of a new service or product
- A special offer or sale
- An invitation to a special event, fundraiser, or social gathering
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Content is the key to online marketing
Content can include:
photos, reports, general information, directories – anything that will be useful to your target market.
Take advantage of the information and resources available to you. The more useful the content is to your customers and contacts the more people will refer to it, and revisit it. You can post all of this information on your website or blog. You can point to this information on your social media updates.
Note: try and think of ways of engaging your audience, get them involved, Engage! Listen! Respond!
Welcome Letters
Sending a short welcome to all of your new contacts is a great habit to get into. Writing a couple of general welcome letters will speed up this process. Note: Make sure to welcome all new contacts from all sources. Newsletter sign-ups, new social media followers, and people you met in person of course!
Find good content and news sources
Adding your own content to your website, blog and newsletters can be very time consuming. There are many online sources for content. Content sources will vary per industry. Here are a few ideas and examples:
- Industry magazines, blogs, and news sources
- Contact industry leaders for use of content
- Comics, jokes, puzzles
- You can also use a premade newsletter for particular industries (personal is always best)
Call to action
All of your newsletters, sales letters, landing pages, advertisements, etc. should have a call to action and a deadline. Give people a reason to come into your store, and then add a deadline to create urgency about it. This can be used for any promotion or special offer you want.
Examples:
Be the first 100 people in the store and get a chance to win a big screen TV!
Sign up for our newsletter and receive 20% off you next purchase. Offer ends this week so Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
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Writing by Nick Stamoulis
This might sound like a funny question but often time’s people really don’t understand what it truly takes on a daily basis to market a company online. The days of writing a press release and an article and sitting back are long gone and with the frequency of new content and material finding its way into the lighting quick search space it really takes a daily effort coupled with intense multi-tasking skills to really get any name out there. Search engine marketing in today’s marketplace calls for daily activities and efforts.
Let’s discuss what you would need to know attempting your own search engine marketing:
On-Site Search Engine Optimization
If you do not have any knowledge regarding keyword research this will be your first step. Optimizing a website is something like a craft and over time your skills will sharpen. The first time around you might be too aggressive and push the boundaries or not aggressive enough. You will first have to learn how to successfully conduct keyword research. You will need to understand just how to step into the shoes of your audience in order to anticipate what types of keywords they might be using to find your similar products or services. Depending on your industry you could very well come up thousands of keywords that you will have to scrub and clean up in order to remove anything that doesn’t belong.
Once this is done you have to go page by page throughout your entire website and target specific keywords for specific pages writing out very tasteful URL structures, meta information and all existing content. Over time you figure out exactly how this should look but if you are just starting off you will want to make sure you get this done right otherwise you could miss out on very valuable traffic.
External Marketing (Link Building)
Link building is something you are never going to stop doing but before you even start you will have to put together some sort of plan. Shooting from the hip every month is just not going to cut it and you have to put together some sort of outline prior to starting so you can track your progress. If you are in an industry that already has a lot going on don’t be surprised if you find yourself putting in some serious man hours to really gain some of those great links you are looking for.
Link building is one of the largest driving forces to increasing rankings and overall branding power in the search engine. In a competitive market or space it will require almost daily efforts to really execute the link building step properly. If you do not have the industry knowledge on how you should properly go about link building your website you could end up link building the wrong way and generate a penalty to your website.
Since link building is never ending and an ongoing process you will need to educate yourself on all new upcoming trends and techniques used by industry professionals.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is something that will be required on a daily basis. If you are in a moderately competitive space it will require even more daily interaction with your audience. Social media marketing has changed the landscape of online marketing for ever. It is an area that went from being a pleasure to a necessity for all businesses. It doesn’t matter if you are a candlestick maker or a hosting company your audience is hanging out on the pages of Twitter, Facebook and more looking to strike up some sort of conversation with you.
Social media marketing requires getting onto these platforms on a daily basis and either striking up conversations or simply responding to inquiries. Writing in a company blog is also a part of social media that also overlaps the search engine optimization space so you cannot neglect this area of marketing. A blog will give you very valuable leverage in the social communities you just have to take the time every week to write. A blog that is not frequently updated can lead to a loss of business and branding so ideally that blog would be updated at least once per/week.
Starting the process of doing your own marketing can get very time consuming so you have to understand what you are getting into when you get going. It is a daily effort that cannot fall by the waist side otherwise it will never sprout like you want it to.
This article is brought to you by:
Nick Stamoulis
Tel – 781-350-4365
nick@brickmarketing.com
My SEO Company – Brick Marketing
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