Archive for the ‘Marketing & Advertising’ Category

April 13, 2010

How American Businesses are Using Social Media Marketing

A 2009 CMO survey conducted by Duke University and the American Marketing Association provides insights into how firms are presently using social media in their marketing strategy.

1. 65.4% firms use social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn
2. 52.3% use video and photo sharing sites like Youtube and Flickr
3. 50.9% blog
4. Social Media marketing spending expected to grow by 300% in 5 years
5. 81.1% firms use social media for brand awareness and building
6. 55.8% use social media to acquire new customers
7. 51.9% introduce new products and services
8. 47.6% use social media to retain current customers
9. Traditional advertising is projected to decrease by 7.9% while internet marketing is slated for a 9.5% increase.

To see more results from the Duke University/AMA study, click here.

If you’re not currently using sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, you should consider. They are one of the simplest ways to ease into social media and they are free. Blogging is also a way to increase your brand visibility and engage your customers you can also do this yourself, or outsource. Social media is ever changing with great frequency, and continually introducing new tools and online avenues for reaching new customers. Are you currently using social media in your strategic marketing? If so, what have you found to be the most effective?

February 1, 2010

For the first time in more than 20 years, Pepsi will not play in the grand 2010 Superbowl advertising game. Instead, they are investing $20 million into local communities via an exciting and innovative social marketing media campaign called “The Pepsi Refresh Project.”

The Refresh Project launched online January 13, 2010 allows individuals and organizations to submit ideas to refresh their communities through a grant funding program. Grant categories include: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighborhoods, and Education with funding amounts ranging from $5k to $250k.

According to the Pepsi Refresh website, each month:

• a maximum of 1,000 applicants may be submitted,
• with up to 32 potential grant recipients to be named
• up to $1.3 million will be awarded as follows: 2 Grants at the $250,000 level; 10 Grants at the $50,000 level; 10 Grants at the $25,000 level; and 10 Grants at the $5,000 level

This will definitely be an exciting project to watch, not just because it will fund many great community organizations designed to improve our world, but to also see the way in which a notable corporation such as Pepsi is embracing social marketing media in an innovative way. As people encourage others to vote for them through social media and networking, the beauty of viral marketing and consumer engagement will surely be far reaching! Not to mention, Pepsi is receiving tremendous “free ink” coverage by taking this bold move – news organizations and bloggers have been talking, writing, blogging about it for weeks now – just google “pepsi pulls out of super bowl” and look at who’s been talking!

To learn more about the Pepsi Refresh Project, visit their website. Social marketing media offers unparalleled opportunities for businesses big and small to create innovative campaigns to engage their customers. How will you take advantage of them?

January 29, 2010

The lingering recession and resulting tightening of the budget belt has breathed new life into an old savings’ strategy: clipping and using coupons. According to a CNN Living article regarding online coupon use increase, “3.3 billion packaged goods coupons were redeemed in 2009″ which is a 27% increase over 2008.

Interestingly enough, the article states that 89% of coupons were through newspaper distribution with a 50% redemption rate, yet noted a 92% increase in online coupon distribution with a triple redemption rate. The latter shows the powerful influence of viral marketing and real-time search for product/service savings. The popularity of coupon savings has birthed a good number of websites that provide coupons and online coupon discount codes. Now, more than ever,  it is easy, cost-effective, efficient, – and even green – for manufacturers and businesses of all sizes to take reach their customers in the tightly competitive market.

February 2, 2010

1. Understanding and Choosing Keywords for Optimum SEO

What are the key words, terms, and phrases that people use to find your product, service, or business when searching online? Have you thought about that? Does your website reflect it? Have you made sure that your page title, page content, image tags, all share a common theme for keyword density? These are among the most important components of a strong website for organic web searches.

Let’s say you own a flower shop. How will users search for florists online? They will go to a search engine like Google or Yahoo and type in something like: flower, flower shop, flowers, florist, florists, flower delivery, or florist Shop.

But they also may search for a florist based on what they plan to purchase such as: roses, lilies, bouquet, wedding flowers, sympathy wreaths, best deals on flowers, best flower prices, discount coupon for flowers, online florists, blooms, or ftd florists.

2. Writing for People and Search Engines

When writing webpage content that is search engine optimized, it’s critical to take the time to think about how others will describe your business and the words they will use to search for you as shown in the example above. You may want to create several key landing pages based on different keyword terms. Once you have determined this, then write each page copy in a way that uses a variety of these terms.

Remember, you are writing for both people and search engines, so your page content needs to be conversational while implementing this SEO technique. It’s also important to strike the proper balance for keyword density (which search engines like) while avoiding keyword stuffing (which search engines dislike).

3. SEO Page Structure

The third step is putting it all together for a cohesive SEO webpage strategy. Write a page title that includes your top keyword, write your image name to reflect your keywords, and remember to include an alt tag that also has a keyword. Meta data is still key for search engines in matching sites with user searches.

February 3, 2010

Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world. Friends, family, and colleagues connect at this social media site to share conversations and photos, play games, and engage with favorite brands through Fan pages and advertisements. On Christmas Day 2009, for the first time ever, Facebook surpassed all other websites to become the top visited site in the world! Business owners, take note!

Facebeook for the Business Owner

There are three primary benefits for a business to be on Facebook: viral marketing opportunities, customer engagement, and the ability to target prospective customers geographically.

Customer Engagement

Want to know what your customers really think of your product or service? Ask them on your Fan page. And really listen to them. Customers can provide invaluable feedback that will help a business develop better products and services and reign top in their market if properly executed. There is no fee to set up a Fan page, but it definitely helps to promote it through advertising.

Also, in today’s tight financial market, everyone is looking for a bargain, so offer discounts, coupons, or other incentives to save money while doing business with you on your Facebook Fan page. Your fans will love you for it and most likely, tell others.

Viral Marketing

Two things happen in social media and on Facebook that are tremendous benefits for business owners: when a person likes a product, service, or business, they tell others with Facebook making it very easy to do with just a click. And Facebook is sometimes referred to affectionately as “the nosey friend who keeps you apprised of every single thing your friends are doing”, including announcing to the entire friend network that one has joined your Fan page – which often brings along a couple of extra fans helping you to grow your prospective clientele.

Business vs. Personal

Since Fan pages are separate from your personal Facebook account, you may still maintain privacy in sharing the fun of high school or college stories and photos with old friends while projecting a professional image on your Fan page. This is a good thing!

Facebook continues to make exciting changes and upgrades to their social media network making it a fun playground personally and a potentially fertile ground for business growth professionally.