Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’
Five Marketing Realities For 2011 That Will Impact Your Business Like Never Before
December 28th, 2010 | by: Catalpha Advertising & Design
Next year will bring a new set of challenges that make marketing your business even more complex than it is today.
We believe that successfully increasing your sales requires the use of simple marketing strategies. Here are five marketing realities that will better your business and kick off the new year like never before.
1. Advertising: Still The Killer Marketing Strategy
Despite what theoretical pundits may say, advertising – through TV, radio, print, billboard and direct mail – is still the most effective way to increase your sales. It’s measurable, timely and targeted.
2. The Explosion Of Mobile Marketing: How It May Affect Your Business
Before diving into mobile marketing, understand how your customers will use mobile venues in regard to your business. This crucial step will clarify your company’s mobile needs – and save you a lot of time and money!
- Can customers find you when they do a mobile search?
- Do you need a mobile website? A smartphone application?
- Should you integrate text messaging into your marketing plan?
3. Search Engine Stability: Always The Focal Point For Online Success
Developing a first-page presence on Google for keyword search phrases used by your customers will continue to be a crucial awareness factor for your company. If you’re not found, in the minds of your customers you don’t exist.
Consumers will visit your website for specifics, then search various social media channels for reviews and testimonials about your product or service.
4. Your Company’s Participation In Social Media: Will The Bubble Burst?
Marketing always comes down to making the cash register ring. In 2011, companies will take a hard look at their participation in social media.
While all the engagements, connections and conversations are great, an analysis of incremental sales versus time and commitment will make 2011 the big year for social media corrections, budget shifts or bubble bursts.
5. Hiring And Training: The New Marketing Tactic
With the spread of social media, companies now realize a successful marketing program begins with the staff. Employees are a company’s top marketing asset, which makes hiring and training a priority and a new and critical marketing tactic for success.
The 60-Second Close: From The End To The Start With No Finish Line
There’s never a finish line for successful companies. The end of the year always brings the start of new beginnings. While 2011 may usher in a more complex marketing landscape, fostering employee programs, traditional marketing efforts and a mobile and online presence will bring success.
Need help putting these strategies into practice? Then call us. We can show you how to get there … faster than ever.
Tags: Marketing, marketing realities, Mobile Marketing, mobile search, mobile website, Search Engine Stability, smartphone, Social Media
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Five Marketing Nuggets No One Else Will Tell You
August 10th, 2010 | by: Catalpha Advertising & Design
Table of Contents
- Five Marketing Nuggets No One Else Will Tell You About
- The Best Research On Social Media May Come From Your Own Family
- The 60 Second Close: Dog Days Of Summer Is For Planning
Five Marketing Nuggets No One Else Will Tell You About
Whether your company has hundreds of Facebook fans or none at all, the stark reality is that the true value of a Facebook fan is actually zero – yes zero — until that fan actually buys something from you. You can have all the fans you want, but until they buy something, they’re worth nothing.
Discounting is the penalty you pay for being unremarkable and not differentiating your business from all of the others with a customer experience that’s memorable and results in return visits and purchases.
The best loyalty “card” ever will be those businesses that have smartphone apps that are on consumers’ iPhones, Blackberrys and Androids. Got yours yet? Without one, in the minds of the consumer, you will cease to exist. That’s how powerful a marketing tool they are.
A sign posted in the lobby of a place of business: “Please Complain To Us!” Bring on the complaints! Research shows that customers who complain and are satisfied with how the complaint was resolved are up to 8% more loyal than if they had no complaint at all.
One of the best and most effective ways to promote your business on the Internet and get great visibility on Google is through “Article Marketing.” Check out the number of press release and article distribution websites that are available — and all at no-charge.
The Best Research On Social Media May Come From Your Own Family
What the self-professed millions of social media gurus (and that number increases each day) say about the virtues of the various social media channels may be entirely opposite of what’s happening in real life. Just ask your family members how they use Facebook. Ask them if they would ever follow a company and, if so, what they’d expect from that company.
What you will learn by asking them may well be worth more than what any other expert out there is preaching, or even worth much more than that $397 workshop you were thinking about attending.
The 60 Second Close: Dog Days Of Summer Is For Planning
I’m sure you have heard of the saying, “Failing to plan is like planning to fail.” Most companies don’t have a sales-building plan for two simple reasons — creating one is hard work and they don’t know what to write. There is also the misconception that for a plan to be relevant, it has to be a 50 to a 100-page binder, when in fact it doesn’t.
Southwest Airlines was planned out on a cocktail napkin. It doesn’t matter how big or small your plan is as long as you’re able to take your thoughts and put them in writing on a piece of paper.
With the 2010 homestretch just around the corner, are your plans in place to end the year with record sales? And with 2011 just around the corner, unfortunately time doesn’t slow down to afford you the luxury to write a sales-building marketing plan at your leisure.
If you need help in planning for your success, then call us. We can show you how to get there… now much faster than ever.
Tags: apps, Marketing, smartphone, Social Media
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Email Marketing Beats Social Media
January 12th, 2010 | by: Catalpha Advertising & Design
January 2010 – Table of Contents
- Email Marketing Beats Social Media
- Offline Or Online? Where The Conversations Really Take Place
- The 60 Second Close: How To Be Part Of The Water Cooler Conversation
Email Marketing Beats Social Media
Although the thousands of articles about social media often overshadow it, e-mail remains highly effective as a results-oriented platform that can increase sales and drive traffic to your Web site or Facebook page.
Importantly, e-mail is the most popular and effective medium for sharing information online.
In a recent study from ShareThis.com-
- 46 percent of consumers said they share information via email
- 33 percent said they share information via Facebook
- 14.5 percent said they use other channels to share information
- 6 percent said they share information via Twitter.
Our recommendation for this coming year: Maintain and even strengthen your e-mail marketing efforts. Your e-mail program and your Web site are the pillars of your online marketing efforts.
Offline Or Online? Where The Conversations Really Take Place
Where do conversations take place? You may be surprised to learn that 90 percent of conversations occur offline and the remaining 10 percent online. Despite the hype surrounding social media and the heavy use of Facebook and Twitter, the fact is that only a minimal amount of all conversations occur on social media sites! This research comes from the Keller Fay Group, a word of mouth marketing and research firm.
So why the huge gap in numbers? Studies reveal that although 83 percent of the online population says they use social media, less than 5 percent are frequent users and contributors of information.
Additionally, a study conducted by Sysomos found that 75 percent of all Twitter activity comes from only 5 percent of users. When you consider these numbers, the 90:10 offline-online word of mouth ratio makes sense.
Although social media channels remain an alternative venue for conversations, the vast majority of those conversations – and the ones that are highly influential in making purchasing decisions and sharing experiences – are really happening at the office water cooler or in the lunch room.
The 60 Second Close: How To Be Part Of The Water Cooler Conversation
Word of mouth is simply a conversation, a sharing of an experience, or a story about someone or something. Word of mouth is successful when people are talking about you on a consistent basis. But the secret is that you have to give them something to talk about. This may range from the ordinary – a great greeting over the phone – to the extraordinary – same day delivery or something in the service area that goes beyond normal expectations.
Want your company to be part of that influential water cooler conversation? Is word of mouth part of your company’s marketing plan? If not, then call us. We can get you there…faster than ever.
Tags: email, purchasing decisions, Social Media
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Does your company have a social media policy?
November 10th, 2009 | by: Catalpha Advertising & Design
Table of Contents
- Does Your Company Have A Social Media Policy For Your Employees?
- Get Your Free Social Media Policy Guidelines Whitepaper And Policy Template
- No Matter What Business You’re In, You’re In The Media Business
- The 60 Second Close: Get Our Whitepaper, “How To Develop Your Company’s Social Media Guidelines”
Does Your Company Have A Social Media Policy For Your Employees?
There’s a good chance your company’s employees are engaged in social media and are publicly expressing thoughts about their working environment. Some might be divulging topics that should be private and are proprietary to your business. Others might be communicating information that could quickly destroy your business.
In order to protect your company, you should have a social media policy. The policy should state that due to the openness of social media, you have the right to monitor all online communication and that current company policies now extend to all forms of online communication. Violating the policies can lead to termination of employment.
Although the policy should be restrictive, it should also encourage employees to engage in social media and be brand ambassadors for the company.
Get Your Free Social Media Policy Guidelines Whitepaper And Policy Template
Your company’s social media guidelines can be long or short, but most importantly, they must be understandable. Are you struggling with writing your company’s policy? Email us and we’ll send you our own whitepaper, “How To Develop Your Company’s Social Media Guidelines: The Eleven Most Critical Issues You Need To Address,” and our easy template for writing your own company’s social media policy.
No Matter What Business You’re In, You’re In The Media Business
Companies today must understand that regardless of what business category they fall in, they must be in the media business. Companies that understand this shift of thinking are the ones that will succeed in today’s business climate.
Companies must consider every customer touch point – online and offline – as a media business and develop a message to compete for the attention of their potential customers and convert them into followers. Your employees are your world-wide broadcasters spreading the values and benefits of your company both online and offline and participating in conversations.
Does your company have a plan in which someone directs your company’s broadcasting efforts and monitors discussion among your customers?
The 60 Second Close: Email us To Get Our Whitepaper, “How To Develop Your Company’s Social Media Guidelines”
Now is the time to harness the energy of your employees who are heavily engaged in social media and empower them with guidelines that will benefit and enhance the online presence of your company, while at the same time discourage negative postings.
Email us and we’ll send you our whitepaper, “How To Develop Your Company’s Social Media Guidelines: The Eleven Most Critical Issues You Need To Address,” plus our easy template for writing your own company’s social media policy.
Tags: policy, Social Media
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What Does “Using Social Media” Mean?
October 27th, 2009 | by: Catalpha Advertising & Design
Table of Contents
- Three Critical Things We’ve Learned During This Economic Crisis
- Not Just For Kids: 80% Of Online Adults Use Social Media Once A Month
- What Does “Using Social Media” Mean? Finally, A Great Answer
- The 60 Second Close: Ready For The Rebound
Three Critical Things We’ve Learned During This Economic Crisis
We’ve all been through a lot since the beginning of the year. Nothing but bad news. Some companies have had to go through the exercises of refinancing, re-grouping, re-thinking and even re-innovating. For many, it was the first real “recession and depression” experience they’ve lived through.
Here are three “take-aways” from this experience, which have hopefully made your business better than it was before:
- Creativity as a necessity: Changes in the economy have forced businesses to be creative about how they increase their sales, and in many cases they have focused their efforts towards their current customers. For many companies, it was “back-to-basics” with an emphasis on the “mom and pop” customer service of the old days.
- Differentiation as a necessity: Businesses understood that in order to be memorable in the customers’ minds, they had to be famous or known for something. It became better to focus on a specific strength rather than try to be everything to everyone.
- Customer conversations as a necessity: As social media exploded onto the landscape, replacing the one way communication of traditional media, businesses realized that what customers were saying about them could dramatically influence their success or failure.
Not Just For Kids: 80% Of Online Adults Use Social Media Once A Month
According to Forrester Research, four out of five online adults use social media at least once a month and half of those people participate in social networks like Facebook. (www.forrester.com)
Although younger people have a foothold on social media, older Americans are getting more involved as readers and active participants.
What does this mean to your business? The 55-plus age group should not be ignored. They will exhibit powerful online voices that can affect your business. If this age group is relevant to your business, you may want to develop a blog, and let them know about it and welcome their comments.
What Does “Using Social Media” Mean? Finally, A Great Answer
We set out to discover what “using social media” really means. Just what are those four out of five online adults doing when they say they “use” social media?
Forrester Research (www.forrester.com/Groundswell/ladder.html) has a great presentation explaining the social media “behavior types.” They include:
- Creators: Active publishers, writers and “uploaders”
- Critics: Those who post comments, ratings and reviews
- Collectors: Those who subscribe to RSS feeds and collect articles
- Joiners: Those who have profiles on various social networking sites
- Spectators: Those who do nothing but read blogs and watch videos
The next time someone says they’re using social media, you’ll now know they are participating in one or more of the behaviors noted above.
The 60 Second Close: Ready For The Rebound
This month starts the symbolic 2009 home stretch. Will there be a rebound between now and the holidays? We’re going to be optimistic with a resounding “yes!” Our agency’s clients will experience a rebound because we’ve kept them in top shape throughout the summer months.
Is your business ready for the home stretch rebound? If not, then call us. We can get you there…faster than ever.
Tags: creativity, Social Media
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