Archive for the ‘Internet Marketing’ Category
Internet has become a hub to get in touch with existing and potential customers of the businesses. Therefore, it has become important to show your presence on the web so that the customers make the buying decision in your favor. To meet the business’s objectives, Web Optium offers affordable Internet marketing services so as to enhance their visibility on the search engines.
Web Optium is an Internet Marketing and SEO company based in Tampa that aims at providing SEO, SMO and SEM services to its clients worldwide. The experts have techniques so as to enhance the visibility on the search engines. It will help in generating higher traffic towards the site thereby resulting into higher business leads to the business. These business leads will provide more profits or sales revenue to the business.
If you want to include Internet Marketing Solutions as part of your web marketing strategy, then contact Web Optium for affordable Internet Marketing Solutions.
by admin
April 29th, 2010
By Gordon Green – Social Media Expert
Action of the day: Exceed your customers expectations with ACTION!
1. Know your customers
Create forms on your web site for customer to let you know what their needs and preferences are when signing up for your newsletter. Link a computerized database to this information so you can retrieve it whenever you need it. This information helps you keep in touch with and serve your customers.
2. Inform your customers
Say you own a wine store and you just received a shipment of Cabernet Sauvignon. Go through your files to see who buys Cabernet Sauvignon and send them an email about it. Reference the fact that they’ve bought this from you in the past, then offer to hold some for them for a few days. Since you’re loyal to them, they’ll be loyal to you.
3. Help your customers
Write a monthly, quarterly or even semi-annual newsletter and post it to your web site to keep customers or clients informed about issues that might relate to them. Changes in the tax code, computer-software compatibility problems, whatever. Give people information they can use and they will think of you as a resource.
4. Surprise your customers
Send your best customers a gift Certificate in the off-season or a useful premium with your name on it. Since they haven’t asked for this and haven’t “earned it” through some points program, they are surprised and delighted.
5. Delight your customers
Send a friendly email to wish them a happy birthday or happy holidays with a nice card personalized to them.
6. Thank your customers
“Please” and “Thank you” may be the most powerful words in the English language. Use them in email. A sincere thank-you letter following up
a purchase is always appreciated. Say, “Please let me know if there’s anything else we can do for you,” and customers may take you up on
your offer.
7. Reward your customers
Call it a “Membership Card,” take some personal information before you give it out, and use email to take the rewards program to a higher
level. Maybe send members of the program a card on their birthday, with an offer of a discount or free gift. The card becomes a symbol of a
more personal relationship. How to delight your customers. There was a time when a woman could walk into a store and be greeted with “Good
morning, Mrs. Jones. Those jelly beans that Junior likes came in this morning. Should I pack some up for you?”
8. Free Advertising
Ask your members to share success stories, helpful tips or valuable information that you can then add to your web site with a link back to their
business.
by admin
April 13th, 2010
In every recessionary economic period, there are winners and losers. Those of us still in business seem to have it good as 2010 pushes on – Very good! And why is that? Well the answer for many of us is strategic marketing plans.
The notion that some businesses will benefit from a recession isn’t new – and that’sexactly why it’s worth revisiting. Keen C-suite executives and savvy marketing pros will face the current economic crisis head on: with one cautious eye on historical lessons and theother on opportunities that abound in a changing, newly emerging marketing environment.
Today, it takes steely nerve to resist the pressure to cut marketing spending at all costs.But solid historical evidence proves that companies that reduce marketing spending in arecession enter the post-recession future far weaker. Conversely, historical data also showsthat companies that continue or increase marketing and advertising spending during arecession come out the back end with stronger brands and increased market share.
But then the question arrives: "Which marketing strategy(ies) will work for my business in this new economy?"
Enter Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Social Networking…
Historically, Search Engine Optimization, Social Networking and Social Media Marketing were considered separate activities and separate programs. As of now they are actually becoming more related and more components of one comprehensive Online Marketing Campaign.
As best and as briefly I can explain it, now is working like this. Search Engines make their money be selling ad space. They have traditionally managed this revenue by selling ads on their search engine pages. Over the last one or two years as the social platforms have skyrocketed in popularity and in usage by consumers, search engines are now selling ads on the contextual social networks.
This brings about a severe shift in the way marketing dollars are leveraged moving forward. So I ask you this:
How have you implemented your Strategic Marketing Plan for 2010 and beyond?
Apr 06, 2010 -
When I first blogged about ten ways to use LinkedIn, the site had 8.5 million total users worldwide. I’m told that now there are over twelve million small-business people on LinkedIn, which is roughly 20 percent of its total user base.
Many of these small-business people are using the site in ways you’d commonly imagine: finding leads, growing their business globally, or finding the right vendors. My buddies at LinkedIn recently provided me a list of ten additional ways small businesses can use LinkedIn:
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Acquire new customers through online recommendations and word of mouth. Satisfied customers are the best source of new customers. Increase your word of mouth referrals by asking your happy clients to write you a recommendation, which will be published on your LinkedIn profile and will be broadcast to their entire LinkedIn network.
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Keep in touch with people who care most about your business. Sites like LinkedIn help keep your business alive in the minds of the people who care most about your business. LinkedIn is effective for two reasons: the business intent of LinkedIn users and fewer status updates, which mean you stay on top of mind. Tip: You can also increase the impact of your status updates by syncing your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
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Find the right vendors to outsource services you’re not an expert on. Think of the number of times you’ve asked your colleagues if they knew of a great web designer or photographer. LinkedIn makes it easy for you to find and vet vendors through the network of your peers. Additionally, you can also trade services with your vendor connections on LinkedIn; sort of a mutual referral system.
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Build your industry network—online and in person. Search LinkedIn’s Groups directory to find industry associations and networks to take part in. For example, if you’re in the event planning or wedding industry, there are over 530 groups. In addition, LinkedIn also surfaces popular events in your industry calling out local events that your connections are attending. Imagine being able to find only industry events that your prospective clients are attending.
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Get answers to tough business questions with a little help from your real friends. Small business owners deal with challenging questions on a slew of topics each day. LinkedIn Answers and Groups let you find answers to those vexing questions quickly by tapping into the wisdom of your network (LinkedIn tells me there are over 200 different categories on Answers including one dedicated just to small business and over 2000 groups on small business related topics). Wondering whether your recent office purchase is tax deductible? Check out hundreds of questions on related topics here.
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Win new business by answering questions in your area of expertise. Use the many forums on LinkedIn to share the knowledge you’ve gained in your area of expertise. This is a great opportunity to win new business or at least find prospective clients to pitch your business to. Prospective customers will find your answers when they use LinkedIn’s advanced Answers search. And don’t forget, what goes around comes around. Don’t forget, this is a great way to soft pitch your skills and expertise.
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Raise funding. You can use LinkedIn to find mentors or potential investors for your startup because there are over three million startup professionals and over 12M small business professionals on LinkedIn and it’s always good to stay in touch with folks who’ve been there, done that and willing to mentor you. Once you’re connected, your participation on LinkedIn (answers, status updates or group conversations) may even cause them to consider investing in your small business.
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Network with peers in your industry for repeat business referrals. LinkedIn Groups is a powerful medium to find peers in your respective industries to network with and to find complimentary businesses to share referrals with. For example, mortgage brokers can find real estate agents to partner with on relevant groups and as most small businesses know, these partners are your best source of referrals that can turn into repeat business. With over 2000 groups dedicated to small business topics, you’re sure to find a relevant group to network.
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Convince potential customers of your expertise by sharing unique blog content. Small businesses smart enough to create unique content on their expertise (either with a blog or twitter account) should link to it from their LinkedIn profiles. Or take it one step further by promoting featured blog content to LinkedIn members on the site (for e.g. with small text ads). You can specify exactly who will see your ads—Executives or VPs—and include a link to your profile so they know who’s behind this content.
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Keep your friends close and your competition closer. Over 150,000 companies have a company profile on LinkedIn, the “public profile” for companies. These pages surface key stats on companies; recent hires as well movers and shakers. Not only do company profiles give you unique insight into your competition, they also give you an opportunity to stumble upon potential hires by browsing through company pages.
I hope this helps you take LinkedIn beyond the usual uses and makes your small business even more successful.
The end of 2009 showed a record high in online ad spending – $6.3 billion for Q4. This is the largest amount ever spent on online advertising in a single quarter, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).
Despite general economic distress, several areas related to the technology sector are picking up the pace again. We told you yesterday that venture capital, which funds much of the tech startup world, is witnessing a surge of interest and investment.
There was a slight decline in online ad spending between 2008 and 2009, the report reveals [PDF]. Advertisers spent $22.7 billion online in 2009 — 3.4% less than they spent in 2008. However, the economy was still strong enough in the beginning of 2008 to skew numbers for an otherwise economically depressed year. Also, Q4 2009 numbers represent a 2.6% increase from Q4 2008 and a robust 14% growth from ad spending in Q3 2009.
In general, advertisers are showing love for web ad spends. Compared to traditional broadcast and print media, 17% of ad budgets were allocated to the web — up from 8% in 2008. This is a number that has been on the rise for the past several years, proving that the Internet is a more significant part of ad budgets — and marketing and PR plans — than ever before.
Search is the most traditional element of online advertising, and this sector claims 47% of online ad dollars. Display ads grew by 8% over the year, but one sector of display advertising outperformed the rest: Digital video advertising, where ad spending increased by almost 39% between 2008 and 2009.
As consumers spend more and more time on sites like YouTube, Facebook and the like — twice as much time as they spend watching TV, studies show — advertisers and brands are paying attention to the old marketing adage, “Fish where the fish are.”
Staff at the Federal Trade Commission are poised to recommend that the U.S. government challenge Google’s acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob for antitrust reasons, according to multiple reports.
Yesterday a report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that the FTC has assembled a litigation team that could be utilized in any lawsuit filed against Google. Now a new report from Reuters suggests that the FTC will indeed make a recommendation to block the Google AdMob acquisition.
Google announced the $750 million purchase of AdMob in early November — nearly five months ago. Since then, it has sat in regulatory purgatory as the FTC mulls whether the deal will result in an over-consolidation of advertising power. All the while, Apple’s been making the most of the AdMob acquisition downtime, launching its iAd platform tomorrow.
If the FTC’s staff does recommend that the government pursue litigation against Google, it would still require approval from the commission’s higher-ups (the commissioners and the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition especially). Regardless, it would at the very least delay the Google-AdMob deal for many more months.
Apple’s recent entry into the ad space could make all of the difference in whether the Google-AdMob deal is blocked or not. Google is very likely to point towards Apple’s iAd platform as a sign that the market will remain competitive, even after the acquisition. Whether regulators will agree is a question that only time will answer.
The result is that Apple has a head start on Google.
On Thursday, Apple will unveil iPhone OS 4.0. It’s not the only thing the company is expected to reveal, though. As we wrote last week, Apple is slated to launch its iAd mobile advertising platform, based off of its acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January.
If true, the move would place Apple into direct competition with Google (
), whose acquisition of AdMob is still pending regulatory approval. Online advertising is Google’s bread-and-butter, perhaps even more than search. It has millions of advertisers, endless streams of data, and seasoned advertising talent at its disposal.
So does Apple, whose specialty isn’t advertising, stand a chance in a duel to the death with the Google juggernaut? The answer is a surprising “yes”, depending on what shape iAd takes and how the iPhone vs. Android () battle plays out. It’s fighting a more experienced competitor, though.
Apple Has a Head Start
While Google may have the talent and the experience in advertising, Apple has the head-start in mobile, which could make all of the difference in this battle.
While very few details have been revealed concerning iAd, there are a few assumptions we can logically make. First, it will be based around the iPhone OS (and thus it’ll be designed for the iPhone and iPad, at least initially). Second, it will incorporate features that made the iPhone App Store (
) a smash hit, likely including a 70/30 revenue split or something similar. Finally, it’ll incorporate a great deal of Quattro Wireless’s ad delivery technology.
What does that mean, though? It means that Apple has a larger user base for launching its mobile platform and has greater access to mobile advertising technology than Google. The search giant can’t utilize its AdMob acquisition yet, while Apple’s had several months to integrate Quattro’s technology into its own platform. And while Android is growing, the iPhone still has much more market share.
Even if and when the AdMob deal is finalized, Google will have a lot of catching up to do. It also won’t have the scale of the iPhone for its launch.
How Will Google Counter?
Google threw the first punch by acquiring AdMob, but now Apple has thrown a nasty left hook and an uppercut with its Quattro Wireless acquisition and the likely launch of iAd this Thursday. How will Google counter these blows?
First thing’s first: Google needs to convince the FTC that its acquisition of AdMob isn’t anticompetitive. The result of the FTC’s review is anybody’s guess.
Second, Google needs to move quickly to create an advertising platform for apps based off AdMob’s technology.
Finally, Google needs to use both its technology and AdMob’s technology to create a stronger web-based advertisement platform. Whoever gets ad optimization for iPhone, iPad, and Android right is going to be in a far better position than its competition.
Google’s greatest advantage against Apple is that it has more relationships and experience with web-based advertising, and it already has the technology to back it up (in fact, AdSense has been mobile for years). It’s unclear how aggressive Apple’s iAd platform will be, but my bet is that it doesn’t really focus on web-based advertising, at least initially.
So, Can Apple Win? Absolutely. But Will It?
If tomorrow Apple launched an ad platform for iPhone and Google launched a comparable one for Android, Apple would win simply because it has a larger base of iPhone and iPad users to advertise against, making it more enticing to developers and advertisers alike. That advantage cannot be understated.
That doesn’t mean Apple will win, nor does it mean that there isn’t room for two dominant mobile ad platforms. Google’s not going to give up the next advertising frontier without a fight, and it has the resources to turn it into a long-lasting slug fest. And, with Android’s rapid growth, it may not be that long until Apple’s market share advantage is minimized.
In the end, I think you’re going to see two dominant mobile ad platforms, one around the iPhone and one around Android. However, the key to this battle will be based around who can expand their reach onto other platforms (BlackBerry, Symbian, etc.) the fastest and can expand the most effectively onto the mobile web. Unless Apple has some tricks up its sleeves, Google’s experience in advertising and its relationships with advertisers gives it an edge that even Apple’s head start doesn’t beat.
I believe that this will be one of the most interesting technology battles of 2010.
