New Media Mavens

Social Media is Big Business!

More and more big companies are jumping on the social networking bandwagon.

And you thought MySpace was just for kids?

Recently Anheuser Bush created their clink campaign -- a photo-sharing push to position beer as the "cool" drink that is different from wine or hard liquor. A-B has invited their site's 300,000 members to send in photos of themselves "clinking" beer. MingleNow was chosen as the social networking host probably because MySpace has a large under 21 user base. But Burger King is tapping into that same under 21 base.

According to BusinessWeek:

"Burger King, created a MySpace page for the King, the unnerving, grinning character that appears in the chain's commercials. To date, the King has amassed more than 120,000 "friends," or fellow MySpace users who opt to associate themselves with his profile"

So how can small businesses leverage social networking and amass thousands of "friends," a/k/a prospects soon to be customers? See what the big guys are doing. See what other small businesses are doing. Set up an account with MySpace. Look at your own company and use contests or other interactive ways to lure in prospects -- they are out there my friends.

- Lena

What’s The Worst Online Marketing Strategy? - Part II

Continuing with where we left off last week, a recent study by Marketing Sherpa and ad:tech cites the best online marketing strategies and the worst ones for 2006. The worst performing technique cited were rented e-mail list, pop-ups, e-mail newsletter ads, banner ads and affiliate marketing.

I agree with most of the strategies: A rented e-mail list is asking for SPAM trouble. Pop-ups are downright annoying -- especially the ones that trail you down the page and banner ads are largely ignored. However, depending on your market and if your newsletter ads are highly targeted this strategy could be quite lucrative. Affiliate marketing is big business but you have to find the right affiliates.

The bottomline is there is no really "worst" strategy -- it's all about knowing who your market is and speaking directly to that target.

- Regards,

Lena Claxton
Choose the right strategies for you and your business. Contact me for a FREE 30-minute consultation

What’s Your Online Marketing Strategy - Part I

So many strategies, so many tactics, it can all become overwhelming as to the right one(s) that will make your business soar. A study by Marketing Sherpa and ad:tech cites the best online marketing strategies and the worst ones for 2006. This study reveals that the following three areas of online marketing gives the best ROI -- return on investment.

1. Paid search ads


2. Your own e-mail list


3. Search engine optimization

Are you surprised?

Paid search ads such as Google AdWords are increasingly popular methods of spreading the word about your business. These pay-per-click ads show up at the very top of your Google search page or down the right hand side of the page. This strategy is successful because you continually target new audiences whenever you generate a new search.

House email list is one of my favorite ways to reach prospects. It is also authentic because you create this list and people have opted in to receive your material.

Search Engine optimization ranks in the top three "best" online strategy beating its 2005 ranking. This indicates that users are using search engines more and more to find your business. Consequently, using the appropriate keywords is an essential part of this strategy.

So should you immediately allocate a huge part of your marketing budget towards pay-per-click ads? Before you rush into any expenditures, take a good look at your business. Do your research and investigate all aspects then determine whether it's the right strategy for you at this time.

Should you pump up your email list and hone in on your keywords? Absolutely. You have everything to gain. Next time we'll talk about the strategies that Marketing Sherpa deemed as the "worst" in this study.

Regards,

Lena Claxton

Contact us to discuss your online marketing strategy

Keeping Visitors on Your Site

I visited a few websites recently, various industries, and I noticed some did a lot of things right:

* not too many colors
* good copy
* relevant images
* important information above the fold
* information above the fold made me want to scroll down on the page.

However, many sites were guilty of not having a clear path that enticed me to further explore the site. Or they had too much going on. I didn't know what to choose so I clicked away from the site. All this occurred on an unconscious level.

According to an article on iMedia "Websites: You Only Have Three Seconds" I'm not alone in the way I browse a site. The article talks about visitor browsing patterns and what happens in those crucial three seconds. It argues that "material must attract, engage and cause the individual to take action all within a 3-10 second time span because most people, in our time-crunched world, will barely give you those 10 seconds unless they know they're going to find some value in the information presented."

Small business owners must take the necessary steps to ensure that their websites attract, engage and cause the visitor to take action.

So, is your Website holding on to your visitors? Contact The Mavens for your Website check-up or for a complete online blueprint for your business.

Regards,

Lena
The Marketing Maven

Is Traditional Marketing Dead?

No, offline or traditional marketing is not dead. But it's definitely not the same. Some 15 or 20 years ago, marketing had the familiar 1-2-3 step pattern for small business owners. You printed slick company brochures or sales material, you ran a direct mailing campaign to your prospects then you followed up on the phone. Maybe you'd even travel all over the country to tradeshows displaying your product or talking about your service. This was expensive. This was time consuming. Now there's an easier and more cost effective way to market your business -- with online marketing.

Online marketing integrates seamlessly with your offline or traditional methods of marketing. Since prospects can now access information about you on your website, it's not necessary to spend a fortune on brochures. Nor is it necessary to spend thousands of dollars in mailing costs for a direct mail campaign. Not when there's e-mail marketing. Tradeshow and event marketing are always powerful marketing tools but the real value comes in when you collect customer information (name and e-mail addresses) or any other demographic information to add to your database.

Prospects/customers will always need print material but use it to send them online for more information. So, offline or traditional marketing is now seamlessly integrated.

For more information on how Internet Marketing can jumpstart your business, contact me today!
Regards,

Lena

All Roads Lead to the Internet

First of all, we’ve heard such good things about WordPress that we’ve decided to switch to a more powerful blogging platform. So this is our new home! We're also now focusing exclusively on online marketing and all that it entails. We look forward to continuing to give small business owners, independent professionals and small groups, tips and insights on communicating with New Media using this blog.

More and more businesses are either ditching the old way of marketing and are now embracing the Internet. Recently, Life Magazine the veritable publication since 1936 has officially folded but would keep the brand going on the Internet. Other traditional publications are following suit. What is happening? According to Publishing Executive, Time Inc, who publishes Popular Science, Field & Stream and Parenting, is "repositioning many of its brands to follow its readers and advertisers onto the Internet."

A Time Inc. CEO said that the "The market has moved dramatically" and indeed it has. If you look at advertising revenues, 2006 was the first year that new media equalled traditional media. In 2007, projections are that new media advertising may surpass traditional media for the first time ever. This phenomenon is trickling down to small business so for the next two or three years, businesses will have to continue to do both but with an eye to changing over completely to the Internet, sooner rather than later.

We invite your comments! Just click on the comment link below.

Lena

Need a jumpstart with moving to the Internet? Contact The Mavens for a FREE 30-minute consultation