Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Valentine’s Day is Coming… Are You Courting Your Readers Properly?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on February 10th, 2012
Remember when you first started dating your special someone? Did you jump in, head first with expectations of what they “owed you” or were you constantly thinking of little things you could do to surprise them and make them smile? A card, an impromptu dinner, little gifts… it felt good to give freely of yourself, didn’t it?
So let’s think about your readers and potential clients. Are you jumping into Social Media with expectations of a set number of followers and fans, comments and shares? Do you wonder why people aren’t just signing up for your newsletter or subscribing to your blog with that kind of attitude?
If you’re treating today’s social networks as an extension of your brochure, print ads, radio spots, or even press releases, you’re not courting your readers. You are probably repelling them.
So What Do You Do?
Think about what your audience really wants from you. Provide it.
Too simple? It really isn’t that complicated. Write your posts intimately to provide real-life tools and tips for those in need. Let them take away value whether or not they buy your product or hire your services.
Give them gifts. Thank them for signing up for your newsletter or liking your Facebook page with a free eBook or Special Report. Even an audio message or interview makes a great (unexpected) gift.
Be present and attentive. Do your readers hear crickets when they do finally offer their opinions and comments, or are you right there with a reply, letting them know that you appreciate and value them?
You may be looking at these actions and thinking, “How will these few things make my pocketbook bigger? This is silly.”
Think again. Your work will always speak for itself but you have to extend an effort to make your readers feel special. That’s what they’ll remember more than the product you created for them. That’s what they’ll tell their friends about. That’s what they’ll share on their Social Networks.
What about you? How do you make your readers and clients feel special?
Mobile-Friendly or Say Goodbye
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on January 11th, 2012
Is your website mobile-friendly? Do you still think that technology is not worth the 
extra effort? Not necessary?
With the increase in smartphone owners, iPads, Tablets, Nooks and so on, companies will have to make sure their website can be accessed through these devices. If your company has an outdated website that depends of flash technology, complicated fonts, or long loading times you can expect people to abandon it quicker than you can say www.
People often access their favorite websites from their smartphone or tablet while at work, in the airport, waiting at the doctor’s office, the bank, or just about anywhere else they find themselves having a moment of downtime. If they can’t access your business information, your company loses out.
What’s Important in a Mobile Site?
Creating a mobile version of your site doesn’t have to be painful or expensive. In fact it’s typically a smaller version of your existing website with a more simplistic design. The important thing is to identify the key actions you want your customers to take when accessing your mobile site.
Here are some basic tips:
Screens are smaller, which means the fonts are smaller. Eliminate non-essential copy.
People are not going to fill out long contact forms using their phone, especially with coffee in one hand or while driving. If you must have a form, keep it simple: name and email only.
Phones will never be as fast as laptops. Try to limit the size of files and images on your mobile site to minimize loading time.
All numbers should use this simple code that will initiate a call when your customer clicks (or touches) on the phone number on your mobile site. No one will make the extra step of writing down or memorizing your number and then dialing it manually. It’s 2012!
Most smart phones are equipped with GPS technology. Make sure your location is “findable” to mobile searchers.
All in all remember: when creating your mobile presence, simpler is better. Reduce the content and file size, limit the amount of typing your customer is required to perform, and take advantage of smart phone capabilities by adding click to talk numbers and location finders.
Is your site mobile-friendly? Has it affected your business in a positive way?
What’s Effective in 2012 for Real Estate Marketing?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Real Estate Trends on January 10th, 2012
So, it’s 2012 and there are a multitude of options for marketing real estate. What should you spend your advertising dollars on? What funds allocated in your budget will offer the biggest reach, influence and return in the new media world?
ActiveRain, the largest blogging platform and professional social network in real estate, conducted a survey of 1,910 real estate professionals asking the simple question of “what is the most effective real estate marketing or advertising that you do?”
Here are some highlights from the survey results and how you can make it work for your community:
- Referrals and word of mouth were the most preferred, making up an overwhelming 26% of the responses.
- Second place was tied with 13% of responses: Blogging and traditional Direct Mail. This includes postcards, mailers, and printed newsletters.
- Next 12% of responders listed Internet Marketing as a general category. It can be assumed that this category is comprised mostly of pay-per-click ads, such as Google AdWords.
- Finally, networking received 8% of the responses. This includes partner referrals and face-to-face meetings.
Most Effective Real Estate Marketing Plans
Even in this digital age, real estate professionals continue to favor more traditional offline, hand-to-hand marketing techniques: referrals, direct mail, networking, and open houses. Blogging is viewed as an effective medium as well, but it must provide value in order to stay in that 13%.
Most Effective Real Estate Websites
Real Estate professionals polled consistently listed ActiveRain, Craigslist, Facebook, Zillow and Google as the most effective sites for their business. There were very few mentions of WordPress, though as an agency we find it to be at the top of the list for delivering valuable information and gaining a targeted audience. Noticeably absent were Trulia and Realtor.com.
What do you think? Do you agree with the poll? Is there something that works for you that the survey left off?
If you need help with your 2012 marketing plan, let us create a balanced, effective mix of traditional and new media customized for your community’s needs.
What Are Your Advertising Resolutions?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on January 5th, 2012
With the cusp of a New Year upon us, it’s common for us to start to plan resolutions in our personal life. Perhaps you want to lose weight, get in better shape, or stop smoking. But what about your advertising methods? Couldn’t they use a little resolution list as well?
Will you use video this year?
Video is a great way to reach customers, yet fear often stops people from utilizing it to its fullest potential.
With the latest changes to the YouTube homepage, the experience is more of a social feed now, which gives marketers a powerful opportunity to enhance their brand exposure.
Rich media, in conjunction with video, is now more effective than simple Flash. When considering rich media campaigns, also think about including video to increase intent.
Will you start to mix social media with your display advertising?
Making display ads social increases the conversation with your customers, which is the top goal for all new media.
Do you try making your social media pages a primary destination rather than the website? How about setting up banner ads for interaction rather than broadcast only?
Social sharing is now becoming the norm when it comes to ads, blog posts, and even websites.
Are you going mobile with your ads?
I know you’re afraid, but its inevitable – users are now moving more and more to a multi-screen experience via desktop, mobile, and display and marketers must create these experiences in order to keep up.
Most mobile advertising now includes location-based strategies automatically – learn to use them creatively.
Remember – there’s no one right mix for every customer or client. By constantly being aware of your social media presence, you can evaluate the right person, the right timing, and the right message for your business.
Social media is not going away any time soon, but it will keep refining itself. Are you doing the same with your message?
Are Retail Brands Easier to Like on Facebook?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on December 6th, 2011
According to a Crowd Science survey, branded Facebook pages had the lowest number of “likes” (9% of users). The most popular reasons for “liking” a page tied between showing support and finding the content valuable, both at 28%.
Online buyers showed they were more inclined to “like” a retail page based on the presence of coupons and promo codes—not a surprising response from users who shop online. More than half also considered the customer service aspect of a retail Facebook page to be important, showing that those who “like” brands also like sharing experiences, whether positive or negative.
Content is king, but remember Social Media users are not seeking friendship from brands or retailers. The best focus for retailers is being on social networks to answer questions, provide customer service support and broadcast promotions, which translate into fairly instant and measurable results.
Should this worry you if you are not a retail business? Not necessarily!
For brands and service-oriented businesses, the gains from Social Media appear in the form of trust, loyalty, and expertise. Companies may not see immediate sales of big ticket services but word of mouth, valuable content and consistent messages eventually turn “likers” and their communities into dream clients.
Invasive Advertising – is it Just Too Much?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing on November 21st, 2011
I recently visited a website to view some creative samples – part of my normal market research ritual. What ensued following rather disturbed me.
By now, you have pretty much experienced behavioral targeting – you go to a website to check something out and suddenly find ads for that particular website’s product or service “following” you around the Internet by appearing on other sites you visit.
Behavioral targeting has a creepy edge to it, but it’s mostly harmless. It doesn’t really disrupt your Internet experience, and unless you click to find out more, a few ads are the worst things you have to put up with.
This experience, however, was much more invasive and borderline stalker behavior. You see, I visited the site, viewed some samples, and did nothing more. I suddenly started receiving emails and phone calls thanking me for visiting the site and asking how he could be of further service.
What?
I can see if I had filled out a contact form or voluntarily signed up for updates or a newsletter. I can see if I had offered my personal information in exchange for a free report. But I did none of these things.
Am I the only one that finds this a little bit over the edge?
I know at least Firefox now lets you opt out of tracking, which I will be employing 
immediately. I’m not sure if this is the new trend for online activity tracking or a unique marketing tactic that companies pay top dollar for. What I do know is that Gen Y won’t stand for such invasive attempts to win their business.
What do you think? Would you be bothered by a company that contacted you incessantly from a single website visit?
4 Ways to Do Holiday Marketing Right
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on November 15th, 2011
Many businesses write off December as a marketing black hole and our clients are not unique.
Perhaps putting holiday marketing on hold means you could be missing a great opportunity to connect with your prospects. This may be a time to connect with people emotionally about what you do.
How can you use this typically overstressed time of the year to get creative about getting your message out?
A seasonal twist to your business
Ask yourself – what do people need from me during the holidays? How can I tie end of year ideas, holiday giving, or new beginnings into the product or service my business offers?
Gift certificates
Can you bundle a taste of your services and solutions into a small package and create gift certificates to give or let people buy? Think of what might be added as an upgrade or bonus and get very creative. People will be talking about you the rest of the year!
End-of-the-year and “What’s New” letter
You can get a little personal here. People like to see what you’ve accomplished, but they also look forward to how they’ll benefit from your work in the upcoming year. What’s coming up for you – do you have a new product or service you’re working on, a workshop, or a new strategic alliance you want to announce?
Focus on Social
Like social media’s “online” virtual cocktail, you probably won’t sign that large deal or get tons of new clients during a holiday social gathering. During holiday parties, people are usually relaxed about having a good time. So instead of thinking about all the deals you won’t make during the holidays, focus on the spirit of the season and build relationships. When the season is over, you can call on your networked party connections and evoke the good feeling of having been at a holiday party together, then translate that into a conversation about how to further the relationship.
With a shift of perspective and a little creativity, you can consider the holidays a wonderful time to build new relationships and breathe fresh ideas into your business.
What unique thing do you like to provide during the marketing “blackout”?
If Content is King Do Your Subjects Truly Get You?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing on November 10th, 2011
Most email marketers focus on getting the right message to the right people, but the message also has to be delivered in the right format and language of your audience.
How do you produce the “right message” in the right format?
Design needs to be effective, not necessarily an award-winning work of art. Some of the most effective emails that drive action are nothing more than plain text. You need a balance—your audience expects creativity, but focus on what works and why it works.
Free reports and white papers were once the fail-proof way to get your leads into a list. They still may work for acquiring those names, however, they may not be the best way to ensure your message is actually understood.
Here’s the biggest secret:
Your content doesn’t have to be the absolute, overly detailed answer that solves all your clients’ needs. Short blog posts are great; a 30-second video works perfectly. Your free reports broken up into tweet-sized messages can be extremely valuable. Mix it up, try new media, but keep it short. We’re all busy. For your multimedia, the most effective and shared video messages have been the impromptu, unscripted short rants. Be yourself and share your expertise in a way that your audience can relate to best.
What’s your favorite way to deliver your message to clients?
Top 3 Digital Trends
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Real Estate Trends, Social Media on November 9th, 2011
Online marketing and the digital world are ever changing. Here are three of the top trends happening today… subject to change, of course!
Mobile and desktop are becoming one. The dividing line between mobile devices (remember, iPads / tablets are actually mobile devices) and personal computers is becoming not only blurred but practically non-existent. Apple has even incorporated features from its smartphones into its desktop operating system. It is predicted that Apple’s two systems—OSX and iOS—will merge completely.
Click through—going away? Advertisers have been predicting the demise of the click-through rate for years, as it really is a highly inefficient way to measure an ad’s success, especially brand advertising. There are actually campaigns out now that measure time spent mousing over an ad rather than clicking.
The value of expert content. We all have a story and a message that can inspire others and solve their business problems. Today’s digital paradigm begs you to use your message to make a difference by sharing lessons and advice with others. The lessons you’ve learned in life and business are your greatest asset.
Are You Getting Tumbleweeds on Your Blog Posts?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on January 31st, 2012
Even though you may contact all of the top players in your industry pointing them to the post, no links come back to you. No replies from those you emailed. You receive hardly any clicks on your post.
Your posts are skillfully crafted and offer a great angle. So why isn’t anyone reading them?
Is content really king like everyone says? We are led to believe that if we produce a truly great piece of content, we’ll get all the links we could ever hope for.
That used to be the case! The Web used to be a fairly uncluttered place compared to what it is now, and it was easier for people to notice great blog posts.
And now?
Now great is no longer good enough. There really is so much remarkable content that bloggers don’t have enough time to read it all, much less link to it.
If you want links now, you need to be more than great. You need to be connected.
It’s not what you know… it’s…
…who you know. Sort of. Bloggers link more often to their friends than anyone else. If you write a reasonably good piece of content that interests their audience, they’ll link to you, mainly because they like you.
The secret to building a popular blog isn’t just writing great content. It’s also having well-connected friends.
How do you get connected? Here are a few ideas to get started:
The biggest key is finding ways that you can be genuinely useful to others in your industry; make yourself relevant and then use that opportunity to start building a relationship.
Tags: Blog, blogging, comments, connections, content, experts, LinkedIn, niche marketing
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