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Web.com Moves Into Mobile Marketing With SmartCalls
May 4th
If there’s an untapped area on the map of marketing, it surely is mobile marketing. Companies have dabbled in sending coupons and ads via text, urging customers to scan QR codes and placed advertisements at the bottom of mobile apps. While many of these haven’t succeeded long-term, there’s one thing we can’t deny: people use their phones to find local retailers.
The days of the Yellow Pages being the primary source for local vendors may be limited: 79% of smartphone users now use their phones to help with shopping, says Google. This presents many opportunities for local retailers, restaurants and service providers, as getting to the top of search results on mobile is a highly coveted prize.
Fiercer Competition for Mobile AdWords
Online marketing service provider Web.com recently announced its new SmartCalls service. With it, small businesses get Web.com’s Google AdWords expertise, applied to mobile. When a potential customer searches for, let’s say “dog grooming” from their smartphone, they’ll get a list of local businesses, with two sponsored AdWords results based on their location at the top of the page.
You can then check out the map to see where the business is located, or even tap the hyperlinked phone number to call the company instantly. Google’s mobile version shows fewer AdWords results, which can make it difficult to compete for that space.
Explains Aman Devgan, VP of Products at Web.com:
“Small businesses recognize the importance of being visible to the millions of consumers who are actively, and sometimes urgently, searching for local services on their mobile devices. The opportunity is especially great when you consider that mobile searches are hyper local and a favorable response to a mobile advertisement is to either walk in or place a call directly to that business.”
Users of the SmartCalls service gain access to their Scorecard, which provides lead alerts, call tracking and call recordings.
Understanding the Real Value
The value here focuses on geo-targeting results. If you’re looking for a restaurant while you’re on the go, you want one close by, not across town. And with 47% of smartphone users looking for local, businesses advertising with Google AdWords Mobile increase the chance of drawing local new customers. You certainly could set up your own AdWords Mobile account, but there are Google AdWords partners for a reason: small businesses often don’t have the savvy skills to choose the right keywords at the right price, with ad copy that will turn searchers into customers.
I know many small businesses who have tried to run their own AdWords campaigns, only to bleed money without seeing the ROI. Working with a partner like SmartCalls may take some of the guesswork out of the process.
Web.com Moves Into Mobile Marketing With SmartCalls
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Why You May Not Want To Do Content Marketing
Apr 16th
There is a lot of constant talk about content marketing. I am doing it right now. But please ask yourself the following questions before you kick start a blog or outsource your words to a content army. I have asked myself these questions because I have made the mistake of giving birth to a mediocre blog:
Do I have something to say?
Most blogs or publications provide tips, advice and/or opinions. If you are providing any of the above, ensure that you are presenting your experience. Your true experience is valuable but a collation of generic facts found online is not. Folks are being flooded with more and more articles online and if they start to read the same, it is a disservice to the reader.
Will my words help the reader in any way?
Usually, the blogs that I learn from have a combination of an experienced author with a lot of deep research. By experience, I mean the author is an industry expert or leader that has several years of execution under their belt. The research is analysis that they have gathered over a period of time. Such information is bound to be helpful to a certain set of readers. Are you providing the same value?
Why am I doing this?
Do you want to maintain and share a regular blog to increase traffic to your site? This is a totally valid reason. But there might be other ways of increasing traffic which are more in sync with your strengths. You do not have to start giving out tips just because there are many other examples out there. Listing your sites in the right places and doing the occasional guest blog might be more rewarding than pushing yourself to produce content every day.
I want to talk to my target audience
Good content increases engagement with your relevant audience. This is proven. So if you are bent on taking on the challenge of maintaining a blog – find the right people. Another author on this site, Lisa Barone, writes a lot of stuff through observations and research. Her former company helps folks build content that is right for them. You can get professional help from such companies to get the right content around your product and business. It does not have to be everyday – you could do a deeply researched piece once a week.
Through this approach readers will look forward to your content every week.
Content Photo via Shutterstock
Why You May Not Want To Do Content Marketing
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Constant Contact is More than Email Marketing
Apr 4th
If real estate agents claim location, location, location, then business owners might have to say inbox, inbox, inbox. That’s where many of us live. This Constant Contact review is for the business owner who is “wearing too many hats” and needs a marketing lifeline with this all-in-one marketing package. They offer more than just email marketing.
First, I’ve found a big difference in the way Constant Contact approaches small business marketing. They call their approach Engagement Marketing,™ but it really boils down to growing customer relationships. I’ve used their web-based email marketing platform on client projects and the part that has always amazed me is their educational focus, including free coaching with a real live person. I don’t mean just tech support or customer service, although they have that. I mean you can get on the phone with a person who is trained in marketing and sales that can coach you on what to do and how to do it. That’s pretty cool.
What I like:
- I like that they have email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, online surveys, and now Daily Deals type offers with a service called SaveLocal ™.
- Just below the fold (scroll down just a bit) on the home page you’ll find great industry examples that can be helpful if you’re looking to see if there are others like you using it.
- The Social Media Marketing part is great because most of the time we think we “get” how to do a social media campaign on Facebook. But Constant Contact doesn’t assume you know how and offers some easy to follow tutorials and resources very near the “Create Your First Social Campaign.”
What I’d like to see:
- I’ve struggled a bit with their email templates and saving templates to create a new copy of an email newsletter. It could be because I was technically a user on a client’s account and without full admin privileges I lacked the power tools needed to get the job done. Maybe the ability to save a series of templates by date.
- Even though I’ve read about the daily deals program SaveLocal in other places, I couldn’t find it in my admin dashboard along with the other tools. I think it should be accessible from that main dashboard, even if it takes me to another component of the site.
Constant Contact is working hard to be a one-stop source of tools and educational resources. From the little things, such as letting you know right upfront how long it will take to complete a specific resource to the bigger things like coaching you through an entire campaign or process. If you’ve been looking for a solution that’s friendly for small business owners on a budget of both money and time, Constant Contact is worth a serious look.
Learn more about Constant Contact.
Constant Contact is More than Email Marketing
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
The Total Package: A Marketing Message That Resonates
Apr 2nd
Your company focus and marketing message should be so clear that it’s driven home in every opportunity you get. When clients experience:
- your print media (business cards, posters, flyers, etc.)
- your online media (websites and social media sites)
- your office space
There should be a consistency in the message and that’s where your branding pieces come in to play. But before you start printing things, the message has to be core and clear.
What is your company about?
Can you explain it in a simple to understand mission statement or tagline? Be clear about:
- what your company is
- who it serves and
- how it gets it done
If you do that, you can relay this standard to your team and this clear message becomes a measuring stick in your business. If you don’t live up to it, then you’re off track and you know it. And when you know, then you can do something about it.
To get to the core of your company, tackle it from different angles. Understand what your company looks like and feels like from a client’s perspective. Then, dig a little deeper and find out what your prospects see and feel. But don’t stop there.
Choose to investigate your employee and independent contractor experiences and responses to working with you and other clients. Does all of this feedback line up to how you see your company? What adjustments can you make to get the most out of these experiences?
Now, get it to the right team.
This kind of information in the hands of the right team can turn into something amazing. Anita Campbell suggests that the size of that team should be well managed. In “When It Comes To Innovation, Small Is Beautiful” she says:
“Every brain in your business needs to be engaged in thinking more creatively. But by keeping your core team small, you’ll stay more nimble.”
Startups often expend energy trying too look bigger than they are. Anita points out that big business is trying to benefit from the power of smaller teams and the creativity and quick action that can emerge. It reminds me to “use what you got” and start with what you have.
If you “look out for your company” as John Mariotti puts it in “If You Don’t Look Out for Your Company, Who Will,” then you can make waves at any stage in the game. John believes that regardless of your position:
“Your real job is to look out for the company’s interest, to the best of your ability, in (your) area of responsibility.”
Which brings us back to this core message…
And these 3 little questions:
- What is your company about?
- Who does it serve?
- How do you do what you do?
Once you’re clear, consistently share that message with your team. Pour this message into them — in print, in training, in visuals, in “practicing what you preach” — so that they naturally pour it into your public.
In my opinion, the total package is about a message that resonates on every level of the organization. It shows up in the logo, the tagline, the mission statement, the staff training, your attitude, the products and services, the branding materials and even the colors.
In fact, Ivana Taylor even suggests that:
“Your work surroundings should remind you of the marketing message and image that you intend to project.”
You can read more about this in “How To Brandify Your Office Space“ at the AMEX OpenForum.
The Total Package: A Marketing Message That Resonates
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Timeless Marketing Strategy
Mar 24th
A Good, Easy-to-follow, Easy To Promote Book On My Own Approach To Internet Marketing. Make $$ Commissions!
Timeless Marketing Strategy
3 Reasons Why Businesses Fail at Marketing
Mar 19th
When it comes to marketing a business the frequent complaint from small biz owners is that marketing rarely works or just isn’t worth the expense. For those business owners I offer the reasons below as to why that may seem to be true.
1.) You Try to Do It Yourself
Yeah, I know, you’d get marketing help if you could trust it, or afford it. Yes, it’s true that many marketing firms are beyond the financial reach of many small businesses. However, if you truly believe in the benefits of smart marketing there are professional resources that your small business can afford. You just may have to invest the time to find and qualify them. And, the better you’re able to qualify them, the more you’ll be able to trust them.
One business owner who knew the value of investing in marketing expertise was Steve Jobs. Apple incorporated on January 3rd, 1977, and within the year was running ads created by an outside agency. Great, creative marketing has been a driving force behind Apple’s stellar success ever since. As the very wise Anita Campbell, Founder of Small Business Trends, says:
“Business success is all about finding the right outside service providers and using them wisely. You can’t do it all yourself.”
2.) You Hire Marketing Help, But it’s the Wrong Marketing Help
Unfortunately, most small business owners don’t know what they don’t know, which makes it easy for them to be misled. It’s kind of a Catch 22. Because while they may be smart enough to know they’re not marketing experts, it’s very tough to be smart enough to know who is. Getting referrals helps, but it’s not enough. So, to know how to qualify marketing help here’s part one of a three-part series on it.
3.) You Don’t Have a Realistic Definition of What Success Is
“Success” can mean a million different things to a million different people. Plus, every situation is different. For example, if you’re offering a coupon or running a sale it’s easier to define success than if you’re rebranding your business with an upgraded logo, tagline or website. Obviously, that doesn’t mean that an upgraded logo, tagline or website is any less important.
My point is that the idea of “success” is something to be discussed upfront. This is where an outside professional perspective will definitively help. Because not only will they know more about marketing than you, but they’ll also have a more objective perspective. And, that objectivity is key. Assuming you’re able to come to an agreement about what a successful effort might look like you’ll then be in a much better position to move forward with confidence and try to achieve it.
It’s unfortunate how often business owners and outside marketing resources move forward without doing this and then end up equally disgruntled.
It truly kills me to see frustrated and jaded business owners struggling because they’ve never figured out how to resolve their marketing issues. Hopefully, this will help.
Failure Photo via Shutterstock
3 Reasons Why Businesses Fail at Marketing
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
When should we add marketing?
Mar 19th
In the Mad Men era, we added marketing last. Marketing and advertising were the same thing, and the job was to promote what was made.
In the connection era, the marketing is the product, the service and most of all the conversations it causes and the connections it makes.
Marketing is the first thing we do, not the last. Build virality and connection and remarkability into your product or service from the start and then the end gets a lot easier. Build it into your app, your book, your movie, your insurance policy, and the red soles of your shoes.
What if the product is boring, someone asks…
Well, you get to decide what you make. If you’re entering a competitive field and you intend to grow, the best plan is to revisit your starting assumption and make something else.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Video Training Lab – High Converting Internet Marketing Video Series
Mar 16th
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Video Training Lab – High Converting Internet Marketing Video Series
What is Duct Tape Marketing?
Mar 15th
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
More than anything Duct Tape Marketing is an idea that started with the belief that marketing is a system and in order to operate that system there must be a very clear point of view about how to build a remarkable business.
I started my little marketing adventure over 20 years ago as a traditional marketing agency and soon found that I loved to help small business owners, but I just couldn’t do it with the model I saw everyone else struggling to use.
So I decided that what I needed, and ultimately what the world needed, was a turnkey system for installing marketing in a small business regardless of industry or size. It was an audacious idea at the time and it still is today.
What I believed is that there was a way to deliver marketing services where you could walk into a business and state – This is what I’m going to do, this is what you’re going to do, here are the results you expect and here’s what it’s going to cost.
I took that simple idea and belief and created what has become known in some circles as one of the most respected small business brands in the world
Today Duct Tape Marketing is a publisher – we produce practical content in the form of a highly read blog, a long running podcast, weekly email newsletter and columns for organizations such American Express Open Forum, Verizon, and Dun & Bradstreet.
We have published two best selling books, Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine and will release a third, more management oriented book, The Commitment Engine, in fall 2012.
Duct Tape Marketing is a brand partner – We are often called upon to produce sponsored content, syndicated and cobranded eBooks, training, channel marketing programs and consulting – for brands such as HP, Dell, UPS, FedEx Office, Sage Software and Microsoft.
We bring the message of marketing as a system to tens of thousands of small business owners and marketers around the world through keynote speeches, seminars and workshops for associations, trade groups, customer groups, chambers of commerce and in numerous conferences related to small business and marketing each year.
Our commentary is frequently sourced by publications such as CNNMoney, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal as well as industry publications.
Duct Tape Marketing is a small business marketing system that takes the form of an online training program including video lessons, workbooks, forms, examples and resources packaged to help businesses build marketing action plans to elevate their business.
Duct Tape Marketing is a network of independent marketing consultants that choose to license the Duct Tape Marketing methodology as a framework for building a marketing consulting practice. This select group works with small to mid sized businesses around the world installing the Duct Tape Marketing system.
Ultimately helping small business owners realize the full potential of what their business can offer is how our higher purpose is served, it’s why we do so much of what we do and it’s our hope that you find a way to access our content, our community and perhaps even our mission as your business grows and evolves.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
5 Final Ways to Qualify Marketing Help
Mar 13th
In this final part of my three part series on qualifying marketing help I offer a few more ways to do it. Why so many? Because the difference between hiring marketing help and hiring the right marketing help can make, or break, your business. It’s one of the most important, and toughest, decisions any business owner will ever make. And, like a marriage, it’s better to do some extra qualifying upfront to avoid being stuck later because you didn’t.
To recap the list from part one (of this three part series) titled “3 Ways to Qualify Marketing Help:”
- Google them.
- LinkedIn Profile.
- Website Bio.
- Find out how well they know Social Media.
- Results.
- The Work.
Now, for my final few:
7.) Awards and Press: This one can be a bit controversial because while awards can be a great litmus test for some, for others, not so much. The argument is that few award shows factor in “results” as a winning criteria. I can appreciate that argument. Also, if an agency is doing lots of boasting about their awards, it’s often a way of overcompensating for weaknesses in other areas. On the other hand, if someone has no awards, that’s not good either. So, seek a happy medium.
Press-worthy work is another good litmus test because great press can be a great, free, added benefit for you. So, find out if they’ve gotten any. If they have, are we talking the local Penny Saver, or The New York Times?
8.) Are they a respected industry thought leader? The more respected they are in their industry, the better the chance they’re truly good at what they do. How can you know? Do they get invited to speak? Do they get interviewed? Have the agency principals been published in the trades? Are they on Wikipedia?
9.) Do they make it easy to work together? This is one you might not have considered. The fact is that investing in marketing help is a scary proposition for most business owners, especially first-timers. A smart marketing resource will be aware of that and have an easy way to start the process and test the waters.
10.) Are they driven and truly passionate about their business? It’s one of the most important, yet most overlooked items on the list. If you’re passionate about your business you’ll want to work with someone equally passionate about theirs. Sometimes you can simply hear it in their voice or see it in their eyes. You can also tell by how they present themselves online. Does it feel inspired, or rudimentary?
11.) How well do they market themselves? This one almost seems dumb because you’d assume that any marketing firm looking to help you would be awesome at their own marketing. Not true and I’ve heard all the excuses: “Well, I guess I’m like the shoemaker with no shoes.”…. “Hey, I’m just way too busy with my clients.”… yada, yada, yada.
Don’t buy it. The last thing you want to do is to hire a marketing firm that sucks at marketing themselves.
To conclude I’ll repeat a last key point that I mentioned in my first post regarding referrals. Referrals are an obvious, logical way to find help and they often work out fine. I don’t list “getting referrals” as a qualifier because everyone already knows that. What they may not know — and what this series addresses — is that a referral is just a starting point.
I could probably add a couple more to this list, but if you follow these 11 guidelines you’ll be well on your way to finding the right, qualified, marketing help. This is the final installment of this three part series. Check out part two, “3 More Ways to Qualify Marketing Help.”
Good luck, and “Happy Qualifying.”
Handshake Photo via Shutterstock
5 Final Ways to Qualify Marketing Help
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
