February 8th, 2010
There’s been a lot of hype lately surrounding Social Media Networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, that these 3.0 portals should be the primary channels for online marketers that are budget challenged. Marketers are having a tough decision choosing, which marketing channels should they start with, when their resources and budgets are limited, but stick with the following ‘rule of thumb’, know who and where your online target audience is.
Is your target audience actively engaging on social media networks, such as Facebook and/or LinkedIn? If yes, then you have made a case to try some moderate testing on the Social Networks, but if no, don’t get caught in the hype! Traditional online marketing is still alive and kicking, as shown today in ComScore’s latest reports that Yahoo and Google still have more traffic than Facebook.
If you know where your target audience is, then that should dictate how to focus your energies for marketing channels.
Tags: Facebook, limited online marketing budgets, LinkedIn, online marketers, online marketing, online target audience, social media
Posted in online marketing | 1 Comment »
February 2nd, 2010
Facebook has done it again! Traditional Online Gaming Publisher companies are seeing a major drop in their traditional traffic channels, as high as 50% to their sites in 2009, due to the change in online consumer behavior because of Facebook. Online gaming companies that have not already created Facebook gaming applications are already at a loss because of Facebook application companies, such as Zynga, which are highly dominant on the Facebook Games applications page. If you’re an Online Gaming Marketer, encourage your company to build Facebook applications and use Facebook as a channel. Check out Zynga and how they market their games.
Take a look at the homepage of Facebook Games Applications page and you will see at a minimum,6 Zynga games with the most users and popularity, which is everything to being promoted through Facebook.
Here’s why consumers are playing more at Facebook, rather than seeking out games through old traditional channels:
1. Consumers are already in their ‘downtime’ when they are at Facebook, so an option to play a game directly from this portal is much more likely, than seeking out another site
2. ‘Real Offline Friends’, not pseudo MySpace ‘Online Friends’ challenge each other in the games, so it’s more fun to compete with one another
3. The games are short and don’t take much effort
4. Other games are promoted, after a game is completed, so it encourages the player to continue to play at Facebook, rather than seek outside of Facebook alternative games
So, how do traditional online gaming publishers compete? Build a FB application and use it as a channel to drive traffic back to your site. Cross-promote the other games to the database of players, so that they will invite their friends to come and join. Do this now, before it’s not too late!
Tags: facebook gaming applications, online gaming, online marketing, Zynga
Posted in online marketing | No Comments »
December 1st, 2009
Starting today, new FTC policies can effect your marketing strategy to use celebrity endorsements or social media, such as blogs, for promoting branded items. New policies require that marketers and advertisers can no longer use the provisional statement, ‘results are not typical’ in celebrity endorsements or social media, which used to allow marketers a blanket protection from consumers that tried to complain or sue for misleading advertisements from products. Advertisers must now state what consumers can ‘generally expect’ in product results.
Regarding social media, bloggers will be affected, since they must openly disclose in their postings for ‘any material connection’ they have to an advertiser they are blogging about, which pays them a fee for the blog or given a free item for endorsing the product.
There will be an $11,000 charge for each time an organization does not comply with the new FTC policy, whether it’s the advertiser, blog, or marketer.
To stay in FTC compliance, check out this link from BzzAgent http://about.bzzagent.com/word-of-mouth/socialcompliance
Tags: blog, bloggers, blogging, blogs, celebrity endorsement rules for online, consumer marketing, endorsement advertisement, ftc compliance, FTC rules, online advertising ftc rules, online marketing rules, results not typical, social media ftc rules
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September 10th, 2009
Need to market your site to business prospects or looking in general for new business leads? Check out LinkedIn.com LinkedIn is a great business social networking site and currently has no restrictions on making contact with anyone that is listed in their directory. LinkedIn is the largest of the business social networking sites and the oldest, which means it contains the largest U.S. business database.
LinkedIn is free to use and can be used to hire new talent, connect with businesses or to market your business services. Recently, LinkedIn launched a new advertising component to their network that now allows businesses to market by targeting ads by titles, regions, and companies. Use LinkedIn now, before they start charging premiums for using the site.
Tags: B2B marketing, b2b social networking, how to get business leads, LinkedIn, online marketing
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July 6th, 2009
Marketing is not easy, especially in this economy, so if you’re an eCommerce site that has specialized in carrying higher-priced luxury goods, what can you do to not lose your existing customers and attract new customers, since everyone is cutting back? Try, introducing lower-priced goods, as the airlines do with their customer seating in coach. If you’ve haven’t flown in the past 2 years, check out any of the airlines’ sites and see how they are offering more seating prices of different levels in coach, so that they can keep their margins and acquire new customers that they normally wouldn’t have attracted without diminishing their brand efforts.
By offering more goods options that have different price points, you’ll be able to keep your high-priced luxury item lines and introduce lower priced items without hurting the brand.
Tags: brand marketing, customers cutting back, ecommerce marketing, internet marketing, keeping customers, luxury goods, luxury priced ecommerce, offering new product lines, online marketing, online marketing tactics
Posted in online marketing | 4 Comments »
June 1st, 2009
Develop an online marketing plan with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as your starting point, comparatively to other lead generation channels, such as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), affiliate marketing, email marketing or media buys.
SEO, for all the newbies out there, is the organic listings that appear on the left-side of Google’s search results. It is free to appear in Google’s organic listings, which is how 75% of online users will find content. Also, 85% of Google Search users tend to click on organic listings compared to paid advertising links that appear at either the top or right-side of Google’s results. Although free to appear, it is not easy to get your website listed on the first page of the organic search, which is primarily where you want to appear, since most people tend not to go past the 1st page of the listings. So, how do you begin to make your site SEO-friendly?
Start with the title of the web pages. Name the title tags with 3-4 keywords that are relevant to the information on the page. Next, make sure that your information on the web pages are specific to the keywords. Lastly, get as many external links that go to your website. The more links you have, the more it will help in the popularity of your site, which will drive your site up in the rankings of the organic search.
Tags: affiliate marketing, email marketing, Google Search, lead generation, media buys, online lead strategy, search engine optimization, SEM, SEO
Posted in SEO, Search, online marketing | 3 Comments »
May 11th, 2009
Small businesses traditionally don’t have a big marketing budget, so the best way to compete to acquire new customers for your business, is to tap into your current database. How?
1. Offer incentives to your current customers for making a new referral to your business through Refer-a-Colleague programs
2. Contact your partners or business associates to participate in a co-op advertising program. This allows you to advertise for half the cost and to get prime advertising space
3. Try Cause Marketing events with non-profits that can offer you free publicity and exposure to the community
Although, it may be hard to market with a small budget, there are many creative marketing programs that small businesses can utilize in their current business channels to increase customer acquisition.
Tags: alternative marketing programs, business incentives, cause marketing, co-op advertising, customer acquisition, marketing strategies for small businesses, offer incentives, Refer-a-Colleague, small business budgets, small marketing budgets, SMB marketing
Posted in online marketing | No Comments »
May 5th, 2009
Inside Out Marketing is how a company and brand starts from marketing from within itself and how it is reflected to the external. Many companies make the mistake of not decisively stating who and what the core values of the company are, which confuses how the employees view the company, which results in inconsistent brand marketing practices to the target audience. By having inconsistent brand marketing practices, can cause long-lasting damage to a company, its morale and ultimately the brand equity.
Take a look at Apple, one of the best brand marketers of the 21st century. Review how Apple has consistent messages, not only in their marketing collateral, but also in the people that work at their retail stores. The messaging is quite clear that the employees drink the Koolade.
Tags: Apple marketing, brand equity, brand marketing, inside out marketing
Posted in brand marketing | No Comments »