Posts tagged ‘Marketing tips’

July 14th, 2011

Top 10 Marketing Tips to Use LinkedIn to Your Advantage

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

LinkedIn is a great social networking tool for businesses, recruiters, marketers and professionals wishing to connect and establish relationships. Many users sign up to be a part of the professional community but are unclear as to how to establish connections and use this tool to their advantage.

AccountingDegree.com filled us in on some top tips to amp up your LinkedIn profile. I’ve broken down the top 10 that will help you get connected, establish meaningful relationships and use this tool to your full advantage.

1. Brand yourself: You don’t want to get lost in the mix, so it’s important to make your presence known. How? For starters, always make sure you have an updated professional photo to help create a personal connection with others. Personalize your URL link, it’s a great way to make yourself more marketable versus keeping the random URL given to you by LinkedIn. Include a summary so those connecting with you can learn more about you and your experiences. Think of this as your mini commercial selling yourself to businesses and marketers.

2. Increase your Visibility: LinkedIn ranks high in terms of page ranks in Google. Best way to get your profile more visibility is to make your information public by selecting “Full View” in settings. This increases your chances of coming up in search engines and gives you a greater possibility to connect with more professionals and companies.

3.  Promote yourself: LinkedIn allows you to publicize your profile so use this to your advantage. You can also create a LinkedIn signature to include when you comment on blogs or other social platforms. It’s a great way to get your profile out there across multiple social mediums.

4. Groups: Start a group or get involved in a group, either way this is an area you want to be involved in. When you start a group you become the “connector” and center of the conversation. It’s a great way to let people know your strengths and create a community of people with similar interests that can ultimately help you expand your personal database.

5. Applications: There are lots of great LinkedIn applications out there, however for all you bloggers, WordPress blog RSS is the cream of the crop. This app gives you the ability to syndicate your blog through your profile so those connected with you can view your blog and be updated with new posts and information.

6. Events: Connect with your fellow LinkedInners beyond the social networking page. From conferences to happy hours there is always something going on in the business world and you should be a part of it. Check out events in your area and view the RSVP list so you know who will be in attendance. Message your connections and let them know you will be there too.

7. Be a Resource: Listen to your connections questions and show that you can be of service to them. Show them what can you and your company bring to the table. Introduce your connections with others and become the “connector” and a person of resource. It’s a great way to grow your influence on LinkedIn.

8. Use Keywords: It’s the same concept when you are publishing blogs or websites, you want your link to appear as an answer to whatever keyword was entered into the search engine. Pick some keywords that you want to be associated with when searched. Use these words in your public profile to increase awareness about your brand or company and improve your search ranking.

9. Repurpose Content: So, what does this mean? Post content and mentions about you or your company on LinkedIn to spread the word and brag a little big about your accomplishments. Company Buzz is a great tool that sifts through Twitter to find whose talking about your company and what’s being said. Highlight these mentions on your profile and add to the buzz.

10. Customer Company Profile: This customizable page option helps company’s enhance their recruiting tactics and provide a targeted experience for potential connections. Through this tool a company can provide prospective employees with updated career information as well as participate in recruiting efforts.

Posted by Rebecca Wilson, Marketing Analyst for the 60 Second Marketer.

CategoryLinkedIn, Marketing Best Practices, Marketing Techniques, Marketing Tips, SEO, Social Marketing, Social Media | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
June 29th, 2011

Top 10 Must Have Applications to Build Your Company’s Facebook Page

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

The Social media sphere is an area where businesses and marketers need to be, but many are unaware of how to move beyond the initial faze of creating a Facebook page. For those of you that have a page, but are not quite sure where to go, this blog is for you. Adding a Facebook application can not only move your page from ordinary to extraordinary, but also help increase traffic and interaction from your fans and followers.

So where do you start? Below are the top 10 Facebook applications that can help take your Facebook page to the next level.

1. Wildfire

This is a great application for those interested in implementing a social media marketing campaign. Applicable for businesses, bloggers ad agencies and non-profit organizations, this application helps you design branded interactive promotions.

If you’re interested in doing a contest, sweepstakes, product giveaways or giving out coupons this application can help.  This app gives you the ability to design your promotion with their customizable promotion builder. They also make it easy for you to publish your promotion to all of your social network platforms so all of your fans and followers are made aware of the campaign.

Running a sweepstakes or contests is a great way to build brand awareness, increase followers and their engagement as well as drive traffic to your site.  After all, according to Jupiter Research, companies that run contests or sweepstakes have twice as many fans on their sponsored social network pages as those that don’t.

2. Wizehive

This application helps you build a web-based contest. They make it easy for you to create contest forms and surveys through their Facebook contest software. This app allows you to customize your forms and voting system, so if you want the public to decide the winner or have a randomized selection process, they can make it happen.

If you’re interested in turning a profit, Wizehive allows you to charge a fee through their system to generate revenue for entries. This application may not be the most affordable, so check out their site to see if it’s right for you. They offer three different plans that range in price from $750 (silver plan) to $7,500+ (platinum plan).

3. Votigo

This is a full-service photo and video contest application that allows you to do a lot with your Facebook fans and customers. Not only does it allow you to create customized promotions, but it also allows you to tap into the registration data so you can learn more about your contestants and build a more extensive customer database. This app focuses on user-generated content allowing for video and photo submissions, comments, voting and support for YouTube embedded content. Their services range in price, but start around $5,000.

4. SocialFly

This application acts as your personal secretary. It’s a great way for marketers to  keep in touch and keep up with their  businesses contacts. The application has a notes system that allows you to create and setup reminders as well as develop notes to help you organize your contacts. Their location feature allows you to identify where each of your contacts live or where you have to be at your next meeting.

5. Telephone and Voicemail

These applications allow you to communicate with your fans and customers on a more personalized basis. You can talk, IM, leave a voice mail and voice chat all through Facebook. It’s a great option for those that want to interact more with their customers and allows those in business to communicate more efficiently.

6. Networked Blogs

This is a great app for all you bloggers. It basically provides you with a community of bloggers allowing you to connect with others,  promote yourself and promote other blogs on your Facebook page. It’s an easy way to import your blog feed through your Facebook page, so all your fans and followers will be updated with your recent posts. The app also helps categorize the different blogs you read, making it easy to navigate through your favorites.

7. Web Trends Analytics

Want to learn more about your fans and the success of your campaigns? This is a great tool to do just that. This app pulls information from your Facebook page allowing you to track your social media efforts. You can track conversions, engagement, who you’re active followers are, what they’re doing on your page and the ability to earn more about their demographics. It’s pretty simple and very effective at pulling insights, allowing you to dig deeper into your Facebook audience.

8. Buddy Media

Buddy Media calls themselves a power tool for your Facebook page. And they’re right. They have the ability to amp up your page and take it to the next level. Their platform helps you build your audience, increase engagement, drive fans to your site, launch pages, track feedback and make updates easily.

9. Context Optional

This is a pretty cool company that helps major companies design and manage their brand on social media platforms. Their sophisticated technologies provide businesses with analytics tools to track their social marketing campaigns and measure results. Their Social Marketing Suite is designed to help you create and publish applications and find solutions for your brand’s Facebook page. Context Optional has created effective branded pages, interactive branded applications and has helped businesses develop integrated social marketing campaigns.  You should check it out.

10. Virtue

Virtue is a web development company that can do a lot for your company. They specialize in web application development, web site promotions and developing software to run across your social media platforms. What can they do for your Facebook page? Step-by-step, they help you design a branded page, your own branded application as well as market your application through their SEO services. They focus on concept and strategy so you’re not just creating a page or app to create one. They give it purpose and the ability for you to track your results and find opportunities to advance your social presence.

We may have missed a few cool Facebook Apps that you’d like us to mention. If so, let us know about your favorite Facebook App in the comments section below.

Get Posts Like These Delivered to Your In Box Each Morning:
If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking marketing blog. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking marketing newsletter.

Posted by Rebecca Wilson, Marketing Analyst for the 60 Second Marketer.

CategoryAdvertising, Facebook, Interactive, Marketing Techniques, Marketing Tips, Mobile Applications, Social Marketing, Social Media | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
June 28th, 2011

Top 10 Tips on Using Twitter for Business

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Twitter, launched in July of 2006, has emerged as one of the top social media platforms enabling users to connect with friends and companies and stay current with constant streams of information. With over 200 millions users generating 190 million tweets a day, Twitter has become a great resource for businesses to engage with consumers.

So, what can you possibly say in 140 characters or less to help your business expand and increase traffic to your website? Well, Blogstrategies.com, Mashable and ChrisBrogan.com have identified a few tactics businesses should keep in mind while Tweeting.

Here are the top 10 you should check out:

1. Hashtags: You should familarize yourself with this symbol (i.e., #) and make it your friend. Put this hashtag in front of a keyword or your company website and Twitter will convert these hashtagged words into searchable keywords. What does this mean for you? Anyone searching for something can find all tweets containing your hashtagged word in a single location, thus making it easier for them to find your tweets even if they’re not one of your followers. Search the database for hashtagged questions pertaining to your business or topics of your expertise and connect with these followers. You’ll find you not only do you have more readers, but possibly more customers as well.

2. Engage with your followers: Simply sending out tweets and not responding to your followers will get you nowhere. It’s important to respond to those that tweet at you and answer any questions they might have. Each time you interact with your followers, make sure it’s a personalized message. No one wants to feel like their receiving a mass tweet. If they feel your message is sincere and they like what you have to offer, the chances of them retweeting your information is even greater, thus ultimately exposing your business to more followers.

3. Combine your platforms: Make it easier on yourself by synchronizing your Twitter account with all of your other social platforms. You can do so by associating your Twitter account with the RSS feed of your company website, Facebook page or blog. By doing so, every time you make an update it appears across all of your platforms, meaning you only have to make one update at a time. Sounds efficient, right?

4. Update your profile: Although most of your followers are only reading your tweets and not your bio, it’s important to have a profile in place that’s up-to-date and professional. Think of it as an extension of your brand. Potential new followers and customers will be checking out your profile to see what you’re about before hitting the golden “Follow” button.

5. The power of a list: This Twitter feature has helped companies gain followers and spread their knowledge to a larger audience. A Twitter list is somewhat similar to a Facebook group. Basically a compilation of followers, grouped together for whatever reason you come up with. You can use these lists to your advantage by promoting and rewarding customers. How? Try creating a list comprised of all your valued customers and reward those on the list with a 20% off coupon or free gift with purchase. Lists can also help your business internally. By creating a list of all employees and those that tweet on your behalf, it’s an easy way to manage these tweeters and aggregate accounts. Once you’ve created your list make sure people know about it by adding it to a list directory such as Listorious.

6. Keep track: It’s important to track your followers and identify whose really paying attention to your tweets. You can do so by tracking retweets, clicks, messages and hashtag mentions. This will give you the opportunity to engage with your loyal followers and maintain these relationships.

7. Ask questions: Get feedback from your followers by asking the right questions. Find out what you’re doing right, what you need to work on and what they want more of. This shows not only that you’re listening, but can provide you with valuable insights about your followers and consumers.

8. Tweet about others: You don’t always need to talk about yourself and your company. It’s important to integrate other’s ideas and links into your tweets. Retweet what your followers have tweeted, share their links and let your followers know what you find interesting about a particular tweet. This lets your followers know that you’re human and are interested in what they have to say as well. Not to mention it’s a great way to build and expand your community.

9. Promoted tweets: This is a new feature of Twitter that enables businesses to speak to a larger audience, even those that don’t follow them. How does it work? First, send a tweet to your followers and then promote that tweet. The promoted tweet then appears as content in search results, so those looking for something pertaining to your tag will see it in the search engine. Twitter offers these promoted tweets on a cost-per-engagement basis, meaning you only pay when users retweet, reply or clicks on your tweet.

10. Customer Service: Best Buy is a great example of how to use Twitter to provide real-time customer service. Create an account in which users can tweet questions about products or services to you directly and tag the answers with a hashtag back to your company website. This allows you to interact with your consumers and provide them with something of value. Best Buy is leading the ranks with over 2,900 employees on board to answer questions and have responded to over 38,000 inquiring tweets. You could be next.

What are some of your favorite tips on using Twitter? Did we miss any you think we should add? If so, let us know in the comments section below. While you’re down there, how ’bout Re-Tweeting this post for us!

Posted by Rebecca Wilson, marketing analyst for the 60 Second Marketer.

CategoryAdvertising, Marketing Techniques, Marketing Tips, Social Media, Twitter | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
June 15th, 2011

Top 13 Email Marketing Tips Every Marketer Should Know

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

It seems as though every new marketing article or blog post these days is focusing on social media or mobile media. But email marketing is still one of the most efficient ways to connect with customers and prospects.

So, how do you get consumers to actually open your email and read the valuable contents inside? Mashable and AdAge broke down a list of smart and effective email marketing tactics. Here’s a baker’s dozen you should consider implementing into your campaign.

1. Combine with social platforms: Brands are seeing success when using Twitter and Facebook to gain email subscribers. Send your followers tweets with a shortened URL that allows them to easily click and opt-in to your email mailing list. By creating easy email subscription sign-ups on your Facebook page you have the opportunity to attract more subscribers.

2. Know who you’re talking to: Companies often make the mistake of sending universal email blasts to their entire mailing listing with zero regard to who they’re actually talking to.  Segment your database and design personalized emails that the specific viewer will actually want to read. One way is to screen your subscribers when they first sign up. Ask them what they want to get out of these emails and find out who they are as a consumer. This way, you’re sending them content they actually want to and will read.

3. Let them know who’s talking to them: According to AdAge, 70% of consumers say the “from” line drives their decision to either open or ignore the email and 30% say it’s the subject line. These two touch points give you an opportunity to brand your email and let consumers know who’s talking to them.

4. Give them an incentive: Everyone loves getting a little something special in the mail. Send your subscribers a free gift on their birthday or a 20% off coupon for Father’s Day. Give them a reason to open up the email and they’ll be wanting to come back for more.

5. Extend the offer across social platforms: Extend this incentive across social media platforms by giving viewers the ability to share their news on Facebook and Twitter. By making consumers an advocate for your brand, their friends and followers will be interested in signing up, too. 

6. Create mobile-friendly emails: According to ComScore mobile email usage increased 36% in 2010.  By creating mobile-friendly emails, your on-the-go viewers have the opportunity to read and click-through while on the train or waiting at the doctor’s office.

7. Where to put your most important message: When designing mobile-friendly emails, the key is to make sure the first line in the email is your most important message. Why? The first line is what shows up as the preview on smartphones. It’s about putting your best foot forward.

8. Expand your email list with SMS text: Give consumers an easy way to opt-in to your email database with a simple text. You can do so by letting consumers know all they have to do is text their email address to you SMS short code to subscribe.

9. Make announcements: Consumers are more likely to open up an email with announcement of news. Letting them know a sale ends soon, a new product alert or limited time offers gets them to open up the email and act fast.

10. Frequency and Relevance: AdAge reports that these are the two key elements to keep in mind when using email as a marketing tactic. Don’t bombard your subscribers with a flood of emails, but don’t neglect them either. Provide them with relevant content. If they just bought a product at your store, send them a survey to learn about their experience.

11. Current event tie-ins: Mashable states that viewers respond well to emails related to current events and pop culture. Find creative and fun ways to tie in what’s going on in the area with your brand.

12. Test your tactics: Test subject lines, offers and messages to see what works and what tanks. By testing your tactics you have the ability to know what grabs readers attention and gets them to interact with your email.

13. Listen to feedback: Make it easy for your consumers to leave comments and give feedback so you can give them more of what they want. Email is and always should be a form of two-way communication, so give them the opportunity to respond.

Posted by Rebecca Wilson, Marketing Analyst for the 60 Second Marketer.

CategoryEmail marketing, Facebook, Internet, Marketing Techniques, Marketing Tips, Mobile Marketing | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
June 7th, 2011

Top 5 Features of Next Generation Mobile Websites

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Are you Mad about Mobile? Well, Thomas Lichtwerch is and thinks you should be, too. Thomas and his team at Mad Mobile in Tampa, Florida design and build mobile websites and applications for top brands and retailers including Pier 1, Suzuki, Hunter Douglas, TJ Maxx, and Disney just to name a few.

Mad Mobile’s advanced technology and expertise can quickly convert the content and functionality from your desktop sites into mobile form. And the bonus is they can do it with little impact to your IT group.

Why take your brand mobile? Mobile is one of the fastest-growing platforms in the world. With 40% of U.S. mobile subscribers regularly browsing the internet on their phone and a projected 12.5% of all e-commerce transactions going mobile by the end of the year, it’s a channel that you need to be aware of. According to Google, mobile web traffic will surpass PC traffic by 2013.

Mad Mobile can transform elements of your regular website to seamlessly become part of your mobile website.

The mobile web space is flourishing with retailers creating innovative mobile-friendly browsers for consumers. And they are seeing the benefits. According to Mad Mobile, retailers have reported higher conversion rates and larger order sizes due to mobile-friendly websites.

So, what can we expect to see from these next generation mobile websites? Well for starters, they feature animations, layered menus, touch events, offline caching, embedded video and location awareness.

There’s a lot going on here, so Mad Mobile breaks down the top 5 Features of Next Generation Websites:

1. Hero Shots: The glamorous model shots and glossy product photos on retail sites are now going mobile. Developers have the capability to create animated rotating shots while incorporating touch events. Consumers have the opportunity to browse with a simple flick of the finger allowing for increased engagement and interactivity. Not to mention it’s FUN!

2. App-like Experience: ‘Mobile-web apps’ is what they’re calling it these days. Native apps provide speed and easy functionality capabilities. Now your mobile website can, too. Next-gen mobile sites include sliding menus, quick sort functionality and product list views that change without reloading the page. This means consumers can see your products quicker and get to the check-out line in no time. This translates into more conversions and less abandoned shopping carts.

3. Location Awareness: This is key. Mobile sites leverage the geo-location API to track users current location allowing them to provide relevant content specific to user’s surroundings. Looking for a product, but don’t know if it’s stock at your local Pier 1? With geo-location capabilities you can now find out!

4. Zoom/move product images: It’s no secret our smart phone screen is significantly smaller than the typical desktop. Product photos and information appear smaller, but ZOOM is a game changer. Zoom and move capabilities allow users to see the products in more detail. This easy function enables consumers to make smarter buying decisions.

5. Social Media Integration: Outside of email, social media ranks as the top mobile activity. Mobile and social go together, it’s that simple. Integrating social media platforms into the mobile website help brands engage with their consumers ultimately increasing the amount of time they spend with your brand. Include social media and you will enlist your viewers as brand activists, giving them the power to share your site and products with Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

If you’d like to read the full report, click Mad Mobile.

If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking here. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking here.

Rebecca Wilson is a Marketing Analyst for the 60 Second Marketer.

CategoryConsumer Behavior, Interactive, Location Based Services, Marketing Tips, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Media, Mobile Website Best Practices | Comment21 Comments »

Tags:
May 18th, 2011

New Research on the Effectiveness of “Follow Me,” “Like Me” and “Friend Me.”

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Are Social Asks such as “Follow me,” “Like me” and “Friend me” overused?

Sarah Evans, the Founder of Sevans Strategy, partnered with Alterian, the marketing technology and solutions provider, to find the answer to that question.

In March of 2011, Sarah led research to track down the metrics behind all of the requests we receive from social media platforms. “Will you be my Facebook friend?” “Would you like to check-in?” and “Follow me on Twitter?” are just some of the actions we are asked to do on a daily basis in our online social lives.

According to the study, more than 3.4 million “social ask” mentions were recorded in a one-month period on social media channels. That’s a monster number.  So, let’s break it down.

For starters, 91.9% of social asks were on Twitter, 2.2% on Facebook and only .03% on Foursquare.

So what’s up with Twitter’s “Follow me” being the most popular request? According to Mashable, the online social media guide, the popularity in “social asks” via Twitter over Facebook could be due to the fact that Facebook is a more personal medium and private Facebook pages were left out of their study. That skews the research a bit, but it certainly puts to rest any thoughts that Twitter is a second-class citizen in the social wars.

Additionally, the study shows that on Twitter, slightly more women initiate the social ask than men. However, more men than women make the social ask on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

So, let’s go 1:1. The “ask” is what initiates the online relationship. It starts the process. It’s a courtship. It is not a one-night stand. The goal in social media is to move beyond the initial stage of a passive friend who simply is a “fan” or “likes” your Facebook page and into an active participant engaged in an ongoing conversation.

Key Take-Aways:
Expand your relationship beyond the initial “ask.” Think about it. After asking someone  out on a date, would you follow up for a second night out if the first one was a success? Yes. In fact, you might even leave a message on their VM before they got home.

Same thing in the social sphere … it’s  about the chase and building long-term relationships. So, are you a Follow-Me Flirter or a Follow-Me Forever kind of marketer? If you want one-night stands, build your treasury of Likes  and Follows but be prepared for them to leave. If you want an enduring relationships, here are five tips to go beyond the first date:

1. Skin In The Game: if your audience is valuable, reward them with service and incentives to  encourage participation with your brand
2. Put a Matchmaker in Charge: companies are dedicating resources to these efforts … put  your best customer service expert in charge of connecting with your customers
3. Get Personal: No more “Hey You” marketing.  Using the same one-liners for everyone is lame  and is a consumer connection turn-off. You know what I mean.
4. Reinforce Value: Content rules here … video, information, connections, polls,  insider information … all should flow into your marketing calendar.
5. Get Feedback: Consider this your online therapist. Want to know how you are doing?  Ask, and you will get real-time information.

So, enough of the relationship metaphor. We get it. We have to “do stuff.” But aren’t some people more “special” than others? A quality vs. quantity issue?

According to Mashable, it’s not about how many followers or fans you have, it’s who they are that really matters. Meteor Solutions collected data from over 20 brand marketer clients and found that 1% of a site’s audience accounts for 20% of all it’s traffic. This means your top 1% of fans, friends and followers influence the other 20% that go to your site. Through social media analytic tools such as Raidan6 and ObjectiveMarketer you can find out who’s in your top 1% and how they influence others.

If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking here. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking here.

Posted by Rebecca Wilson, Marketing Analyst at the 60 Second Marketer.

CategoryFacebook, Foursquare, Marketing Techniques, Marketing Tips, Online Reputation Management, Research, Social Marketing, Social Media | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
September 10th, 2010

Seven Ways to Get the Most from the 60 Second Marketer Website

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Every so often, we like to remind our readers of the best ways they can get the most from our site. After all, the 60 Second Marketer is more than just a web magazine — it’s a community of marketing professionals from around the globe who comment, contribute and conspire with one another on the best ways to get the most bang from their marketing dollar.

So, with that in mind, here are the top seven ways to get the most from the 60 Second Marketer:

Marketing tips from the 60 Second Marketer
Are you interested in staying current on the newest tools, tips and techniques in marketing? Then fill out the box to the right and have the 60 Second Marketer blog delivered to your in-box each morning.

  1. Comment on our blog: We respond to virtually every comment that’s made on our blog. So if you have a comment about one of our posts, we’ll follow-up on your comment by providing you additional information and insights. Give it a try. Seriously. We really do follow-up.
  2. Follow us on Twitter: If you’re interested in staying up-to-date on all the latest trends in marketing, you can follow me at 60SecondTweets. I’ll keep you posted on all the latest articles and information all day long. And occasionally, we’ll even say something witty and funny. But only if we’re in a witty or funny mood.
  3. Have the 60 Second Marketer blog delivered to your in-box every morning: Are you interested in learning about the newest tools, tips and techniques in marketing? Then have the 60 Second Marketer blog sent to your in-box each morning. Just fill out the box to the right of this blog post and walla! It’ll be delivered just about every morning, like magic.
  4. Sign up for our free weekly eNewsletter: Each week, we send out a whole slew of “How To” articles designed to help you instantly improve your marketing program. If you want tips on social media, email marketing, blogging, direct response marketing or just about any other topic, then sign up for our weekly eNewsletter.
  5. Visit our QuickTips page: It includes a long list of tips that you can put to use instantly to get the most bang from your marketing dollar.
  6. Check out our Free Tools page: Our Free Tools page has 18 different free tools or information portals where you can download additional content or tools designed to help you grow your sales and revenue.
  7. Download a free chapter from my book: Are you serious about social media? Then you’ll want to download the free chapter I’m offering from “How to Make Money with Social Media.” It’s packed with good information.

Of course, all this assumes you’ve taken a deep dive into our free Articles and our free Videos, right? If you haven’t jumped into the fray on those pages, you should start there because they’re packed with great tools and tips on ways you can improve your marketing.

So there you have it. Seven ways to get the most from the 60 Second Marketer. Plus a few bonus tips.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine for BKV Digital and Direct Response.

CategoryGeneral Marketing | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
February 23rd, 2010

Do Like Natalie: 3 Steps to Reach Your Mobile Clientele

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

An independent journalist, Natalie MacLean is author of the bestseller Red, White and Drunk All Over, and editor of one of the largest wine sites on the web at www.nataliemaclean.com. How does Natalie market her business?

1) Natalie Knows Her Stuff: Be an Expert

Natalie has built her site into a wine-lover’s favorite.

Which wines go best with the “green food” that we’ll enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day, such as corned beef and cabbage or Irish stew? How about those fresh spring vegetables that will soon be on our plates?

“Green foods are the problem children of the wine world,” says Natalie. “But as a stubborn hedonist whose grandmother’s name was Brophy, I’ve found some terrific wines to drink with them on March 17.”

2) Natalie Knows Good Business: Reach Your Audience

How did Natalie market her successful website to her on-the-go clientele? She went mobile.
Natalie launched the new mobile application for iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Droid and other smartphones. Developed by Cerado, this app builds on the success of her Drinks Matcher and includes all the pairings in the original app, plus thousands of wine reviews, recipes, articles, blog posts, glossary definitions, cellar journal and winery directory. You can access the new app at www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp.

3) Natalie Knows Her Customers: Give Them What They Want

Knowing what her online customers liked, Natalie transferred it over to the mobile app. And, the new app is free. It’s like having a sommelier (and leprechaun) in your pocket.

The Nat Decants Free Mobile App features the following:

- Find 380,000 professionally tested food and wine pairings (not generated by computer algorithm)
- Access thousands of wine reviews by an independent journalist
- Search the reviews by winery, price, score, region, grape, vintage, food match
- Track your wines in your virtual cellar and add your own journal notes and scores
- Search a directory of 10,000+ wineries to buy wine or plan a visit
- Find thousands of tasty, tested recipes for every wine
- Get wine savvy with articles, glossary definitions & blog posts
- Share on Twitter, Facebook and e-mail with friends

In essence, what she has done is taken her entire web presence and converted it into a mobile application to meet the needs of her on-the-go clientele.
Brilliant!!

And in case you were wondering about those green food pairings:

Natalie’s Top 10 Green Wine & Food Matches

1. Corned beef and cabbage: Pinot Blanc
2. Irish Stew: Cabernet Franc
3. Spring Asparagus: Gruner Veltliner
4. Field greens salad: Riesling
5. Tomatoes: Pinot Noir
6. Green peppers: Sparkling Wine
7. Grilled veggies: Rose
8. Green peas: Sauvignon Blanc
9. Spinach and bacon salad: Merlot
10. Artichoke: Verdicchio

++++++

To get the free Nat Decants Mobile App visit: www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp
About Natalie: Natalie MacLean is an independent journalist and author of the bestseller
Red, White and Drunk All Over. Natalie’s site is the go-to resource for food and
wine lovers. You can find her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nataliemaclean and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/nataliemaclean.
About Cerado: The mobile development company Cerado, Inc. created the Nat Decants Mobile
App. Founded in 2002, Cerado creates mobile and web-based solutions that enable businesses, associations and organizations to better connect and understand their customer and member communities. www.cerado.com.

++++++

CategoryMobile Marketing | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
January 6th, 2010

Under Wear? New iPhone App “Nude It” Shows All

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Ladies and gentlemen, beware the co-worker or friend who points their iPhone at you and begins laughing (or drooling).

Apple approved an iPhone app yesterday called Nude It, which allows you to point your iPhone at a victim and see them sans clothing. (Apparently ladies underwear doesn’t count as clothing, as it is reported that the app doesn’t see through them. How a piece of software knows the difference between a blouse and a bra is beyond me. And does it know the difference between men’s underwear and ladies underwear, so we girls can see all but the boys can’t? Questions that I’d like to have answered, so comment back if you get this app. )

Imagine the fun! Weekly staff meetings suddenly become much more interesting. Baseball takes on a whole new meaning. Nightclubs become reminiscent of Greek orgies. You get to check out the goods first when dating.

But then I worry about what happens when the sickos get a hold of this app. What about the child molesters and sex offenders?  Let’s hope they don’t own iPhones.

The YouTube video about this app already has over 725,000 views, and the US has been anxiously waiting the approval of this app by Apple. If there’s one thing the marketing industry can take from this app release, it’s something we already know: Sex sells. We’ll see how well this app sells, but I bet it will do just fine. And that’s the naked truth.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

CategoryApple, General Marketing | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
December 21st, 2009

Help Customers Find You on Google Maps for Free

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

googlemapHow are your customers finding you? If you’re a brick and mortar business, here’s a way to get Google users to your doorstep.

Google offers a way for you to enter your business onto those maps that show up in Google search results. You’ve seen the red arrows on Google Maps. Ever wonder how they got there? I always figured they paid college kids a buck ninety-seven to drive around and input that stuff. I don’t know, maybe they do.

The news is that starting last May 2009, you can enter an arrow for your business. You can enter your business name, type of business, address, hours, etc. You can also get statistics based on the clicks on the results. And it’s all free!

Here’s the skinny from Google:

There are well over 150 million searches a day on Google. That’s a lot of potential customers. Marketing is all about telling those potential customers about your business, and this is a free service that helps you do that.  Check it out and let us know how it works for you.

++++++

Go to Google Local Business Center

CategoryGeneral Marketing, Google, Marketing Techniques | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
December 8th, 2009

Esquire Magazine Demonstrates the Coolness of Augmented Reality

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

“Cool!… This is the future of magazines.” A. Pruitt, my 11 year old son,

upon seeing an augmented reality magazine for the first time.


The December 2009 issue of Esquire Magazine has diminished the line between paper and pixels. Using augmented reality (AR) to enhance its reading experience, the magazine shows us some of the uber-coolness that is the current state of AR.

esquire cover

At a large indoor amusement establishment a few years ago, I stood in line to experience “virtual reality.” I donned a heavy pair of goggles, and had gloves attached to my hands. Through the goggles I viewed a scene, which I was able to walk through and interact with. It was an incredible experience.

AR, as Esquire Magazine demonstrates this use of it, is sort of the opposite of that. The scenery exists on your computer screen, and you interact outside of the experience. It works like this. Printed on the magazine page is a black and white square with a pattern on it. After downloading an application from their site, and turning on your computer’s webcam, you hold the magazine up so the webcam “sees” the box. Then the fun begins.

First, an image pops up, much like a video. But it has a 3D look, and by turning and tilting the magazine page, the image reacts by moving, turning, and tilting on your screen. It’s also referred to as a “digital hologram,” which is a pretty fair description. It’s a little difficult to manage holding the magazine and viewing the screen at the same time, but the results are worth adding that to your skill set.  After all, you can only move your mouse in a 2D fashion, but you can move the page with the AR grid in real-life 3D and get the corresponding response on your screen. Yeah, it’s cool.

Esquire Magazine’s AR demos include an introduction by Robert Downey, Jr., an art show, some jokes, a fashion show, and some music. Your input triggers their response, simply by moving the grid from the appropriate page in front of your webcam. It’s similar to what you do with your mouse when moving the googlemaps street view or using keyboard commands to move through a video game, but smooth and seamless, and mouse-less.

What’s In It For Marketers?

Imagine the possibilities! For starters, if you incorporated AR on your website, the novelty of AR could be enough to drive prospective clients to your site. Send clients a printable pattern, provide a website with AR capabilities, and your customers could view your product in 3D. They could “visit” your store. They could interact with your widget. You can tell more of a story about your product. And you have to admit, listening to a new jazz CD is better than reading about it.

What else? Any marketers using this type of AR? Let’s hear from you.

++++++

To see Esquire Magazine’s demo:  http://bit.ly/EsqAugRealtDemo

To see GE’s demo: http://bit.ly/ARGESmartGridDemo

Click on the left demo window to see what the experience is like.

Click on the right to print a grid to try it yourself.

More tomorrow on other uses of augmented reality.

CategoryAugmented Reality, General Marketing | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
November 19th, 2009

Five Common Paid Search Mistakes

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

sherlockPicture Sherlock Holmes. Armed with his overcoat, magnifying glass, pipe, and unmistakable detective hat, Holmes sets out to look for clues. And he always finds them. After all, he’s got all the right tools for a productive search.

How about your prospective clients? Do they have the right tools to find you?

Whether or not your brand or product already has a presence online, you are missing out if you are not using paid search as a marketing channel. Recent research has shown that 40% of all people on the internet querying a search engine will click on a paid search link first, and that number is increasing.

Paid search allows for unprecedented targeting and tracking, letting you, the Chief Paid Search Detective, control expenditures down to minute details. You can run a paid search campaign with $20 or $200,000, and the $20 campaign is not necessarily at a disadvantage. It can earn the same ROI.

Ready to jump in? Just look before you  leap.

Here are ten of the most common paid search mistakes that you want to avoid when starting your campaign.

#1 Ego Bidding – This mistake usually results from emotional attachment to a certain keyword or campaign on the part of the bidder. For example, the bidder decides that his/her phrase must rank number one on a particular engine. In most cases, the bidder simply wants the satisfaction of running a search and seeing his/her keyword in a top position. Sometimes, they want to rank a phrase using  internal language, which is irrelevant to most searchers. This mistake can easily result in inefficient spending of the budget, and can often deplete your daily budget before dinner…or even lunch.

#2 Too many keywords per ad – This mistake is common to people fairly new to paid search; it’s easy to fall into but easy to get out of as well. Adding too many keywords to one ad group often leaves you with irrelevant keywords generating impressions for the ad.  First, these non-targeted impressions will decrease your quality score because your click-through rate will likely decrease. Second, these irrelevant keywords will cost you extra money.

#3 Focusing on budget instead of ROI – Paid search campaigns are not like other marketing mediums, so viewing them as another line item in your budget is a mistake.  The trackability and accountability that paid search offers allow it to run more efficiently than other types of marketing. Focusing on what you are spending instead of what you are getting in return leads to inefficient bidding and a campaign that does not maximize the benefits that paid search offers. Instead, manage paid search on a day-to-day basis, adjusting your bids and keywords in order to capitalize on the return on your investment.

#4 Not learning from your competitors’ strategy – Some paid search programs and software offer the ability to track what your competitors are doing online; what keywords, where they bid, when they bid, etc. Especially if you are going up against larger, more established brands with larger paid search budgets, you must learn from their strategies so that you are not two steps behind. With this approach, you should be able to circumvent a lot of the guesswork and gain on your competitors with efficient bidding, even on a small budget.

#5 Forgetting to think negatively – A common mistake in the campaign planning process is not thoroughly researching negative keywords. Positive keywords will drive traffic to your site, but negative keywords will filter out the traffic that you don’t want. For example, if you are selling Nike sneakers, and you are bidding on the general phrase “sneakers,” you would want to negative keyword “Reebok” or any other brands competing with Nike. This negative keyword will ensure that anyone searching “Reebok sneakers” is not directed to your ad simply because they typed in sneakers.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

CategoryPaid Search | CommentNo Comments »

Tags:
November 17th, 2009

Warning: Don’t Let Your Website Get Caught Unprepared for the Holidays

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

santa left behindWe came across this article with its very important reminder that the holiday seasons are coming fast. Now is the time to plan for the success of your website during the approaching purchasing frenzy.

How can you be sure you are ready for the onslaught of potential customers?

Read the abbreviated story here, or click to read the entire article from MarketingTips.com.

Quick Tip #1:  Add a benefit to your headline

If the headline on your web site isn’t grabbing your visitors’ attention as soon as they read it, you’re losing sales. That’s a fact. And nothing grabs a visitor’s attention like a compelling headline with a clear benefit.

Quick Tip #2:   Feature seasonal specials in the first fold of your homepage

It’s important that your special be featured on the first fold of your homepage. (The first fold is the first screen of your homepage that is visible without scrolling.) Remember, you want to make it EASY for your visitors to find and buy your products. The best way to do this is by making sure that every single visitor to your site sees your featured specials.

Quick Tip #3:   Send out a holiday e-mail promotion

Remember: The clock is ticking! You really don’t have time to go out and acquire a bunch of new traffic in time for the busy holiday rush. But the good news is that you don’t need to. If you have a list of customers and/or subscribers, you’ve already got an incredibly powerful database of people who are just waiting to make purchases from you!

Quick Tip #4:   Consider replacing third-party ads

Take a moment and think about whether or not your site is using the first fold of your web site effectively, especially if you’re hosting advertising for other companies.

Figure out approximately how much money you’ll receive from hosting third-party advertising over the holiday season. Include all revenue from any banners ads, skyscraper ads, text ads, etc. that are located within the first fold of your site.

Now, ask yourself whether you could make more by replacing these third-party ads with ads for your OWN products. For many businesses, even one sale would be worth more money than their banner ads generate for them in a whole month!

Quick Tip #5:   Offer fast, flexible shipping

There’s one thing that continues to scare people about buying online for the holidays: late delivery. There’s nothing that drives customers offline and out to the shopping mall faster than the idea that their kids’ Christmas presents won’t arrive until the 28th of December!

If you use a major nationwide delivery service such as UPS or FedEx, you’ll want to feature this information. People will feel much more comfortable ordering from a site that uses one of these services than one that ships through the mail.

Also, be sure to tell your customers that they MUST order by a certain date in order for you to guarantee delivery by Christmas. This will save you a lot of headaches when disgruntled customers call you on Christmas morning wondering why the products they ordered on the 23rd haven’t arrived yet!

Quick Tip #6:   Offer to ship gifts directly to recipients

If possible, offer to ship your customers’ purchases directly to the gift recipients. This saves your customers the hassle of waiting to receive the package from you and then sending it out to someone else. This is a great way to add value to your service without any additional cost to you!

Quick Tip #7:   Include some sales material

Each package that you send out as a gift from someone else should include a flyer, brochure, or coupon from your company. After all, the recipient of this gift is the perfect potential customer!

Quick Tip #8:   Offer online gift certificates

Gift certificates can be an easy way to boost sales for sites that sell products and services to niche markets.  If you are selling a service online, gift certificates are a great way to turn your service into a gift! No matter what you’re selling — it could be spa packages or landscape design — I can guarantee that your service would make the perfect gift for somebody out there.

Plus, you can remind your customers and subscribers that since gift certificates can be delivered electronically, they make great last-minute gifts. Personally, online gift certificates have saved the day for me a few times!

Quick Tip #9:   Explain why your product (or service) would make a great gift

At this time of year especially, it’s important to remind people why your product would make a great gift idea. Of course, sites selling products like neckties or Christmas ornaments won’t need to worry about this as much, but what if your site is selling something like office supplies?

Quick Tip #10:   Offer a “Book Now and Save” promotion

One of the biggest problems encountered by some online businesses is that they suffer from what I call a “Holiday Hangover.” Not only does business fall off in the month BEFORE the holidays, it also suffers during the month AFTER, when people don’t have any money left!

Because of this, it can be a real challenge for some businesses to get revenues back on track in the New Year. One of the best ways to deal with this is to motivate your customers to purchase your product or service NOW for the New Year in exchange for a discounted price or value-added bonus.

Final Thoughts

The holiday season is a make-or-break time of year for many online businesses. And just because you haven’t found the time to set up a comprehensive holiday marketing strategy doesn’t mean that you can’t turn a great profit over the next couple of weeks.

But you do need to take the time to implement some of these quick tips IMMEDIATELY… do whatever it takes to get your site ready for the holidays NOW. Every day you wait is another day of missed opportunities and lost profits!

The great thing is that all of the tips I’ve just given you can be implemented quickly and easily. Most of these should only take you an hour or two to set up on your site, and the results will make you wish you had started much sooner.

Happy holidays!

CategoryMarketing Techniques | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
November 16th, 2009

Be a Social Media Whiz: Secrets of a Successful Online Campaign

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

elearning desktopYes, you can be a whiz at using social media successfully.

Here’s the secret: You wouldn’t start a new billboard campaign without careful planning, would you? Of course not. Yet many companies seem to jump right in to a social media campaign without giving this type of marketing the careful consideration that other types get. Why? It is a new medium to many, and we’re still learning the ropes. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and others can be very effective – if done with a little planning.

Here’s a 10 point road map to help you plan to make the most effective use of a social media campaign, taken from a recent webinar presented by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer. Already using social media? Review to see if there’s a new idea for you.

1. Competitive Assessment: What are your competitors doing in this space already? What can you borrow from them?

2. Internal Situation Analysis: How much awareness is there of social media within your company? Is there an understanding that it can be measured and create a positive ROI?

3. Major Objectives: What are you trying to accomplish with your social media campaign?

4. Consumer Thought Process: What is the typical sales cycle for your product? How much trust do you need to build before you can make a sale? (Hint: The more expensive the product, the more trust needs to be built.)

5. Key Strategies: What approach are you going to take in order to have a successful program?

6. Brand Essence: What is your brand essence and how are you going to communicate that using social media?

7. Positioning: How is your brand currently positioned in the marketplace? Where do you want it to be positioned as a result of your social media campaign?

8. Essential Message: What is the essential take-away you want consumers and prospects to have after engaging with your brand via social media?

9. Tactical Plan Overview: Which social media platforms are you going to use for your program? Which tools are you going to use to measure the success of your program?

10. Executional Roadmap: What are your SMART Goals for this plan? How are you going to be held accountable for them?

Careful planning will make the time spent well worth it, and make you look like the whiz that you are. Just don’t forget to have fun and be creative with your campaign. You may be the next trend setter, with competitors following your example!

CategoryFacebook, LinkedIn, Marketing Techniques, Social Media, Twitter | Comment5 Comments »

Tags:
« Older Entries

The 60 Second Marketer is a free online magazine brought to you by BKV Interactive and Direct Response. We try to provide quick updates on the newest tools, tips and techniques in marketing. We also try to accomplish that with a dose of humor or levity. As it turns out, we're pretty good at providing tools, tips and techniques, but we're not actually all that funny. Which would explain why people don't call us "funny" as much as they call us "laughable." Bummer. Our offices, for those of you who are interested, are located in Atlanta (404-233-0332) and Kansas City (913-648-8333). We also have offices on Bora Bora, but they don't have the phones installed yet.

© 60 Second Marketer, a division of BKV, Inc.