A blog gives you a voice – a platform – a place to show your prospects and customers just how much you know – a place to start conversations – conversations that lead to building credibility, trust and customer loyalty.
If you have ever struggled with how to effectively communicate with your customers – perhaps alert them when you release a new product or service, or maybe you’d just like their opinions on your past sales or future company direction – blogs are becoming an incredibly common means to keep customers aware of sales and product releases as well as to simply talk to them more informally. Providing a forum where people can leave comments provides you with a measure of value and proves that your company does indeed care.
Reinforce your Brand
A blog can be a phenomenal marketing tool for your business, but it also needs to be part of your brand identity because that is what sets you apart in the marketplace – it’s all about recognition and brand trust.
Become the Expert
Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business. People in your industry will pay attention; they’ll read and discuss what you have to say.
Strengthen Customer Relationships
Have a more personal relationship with your customers when you join their discussions, provide tips and insights, or receive feedback.
Media Relations
Create a channel where media regularly check what you have to say instead of just relying on passive press releases.
Knowledge Management
Blogs are an easy way for readers to find information and resources they want or need.
Test Ideas or Products
Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?
Rank High in Search Engines
Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that have many inbound links.
Helpful Resources Once Your Blog is Launched
ProBlogger: A wealth of blogging-related information and resources to assist your blogging success.
CopyBlogger: Copywriting tips for online marketing success.
Lorelle on Wordpress: Comprehensive resource site covering WordPress, blogging and social media and how it all works.
The Blog Herald: The premier source of news, information, tips, and commentary on blogs, the blogging industry and bloggers worldwide.
Google Blog Search: Register your blog with Google Blog Search. Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs, enabling users to find out what people are saying on any subject of their choice.
HitTail: Use HitTail to research topics to write about. HitTail gives you a list of the search terms used by those who came to your blog through a search engine. This search term list will give you ideas for future blog posts.
Feedburner: Redirect your blog’s feeds through FeedBurner so you can track your subscribers.
Add This: Use this tool to download a smart button that makes it easy for readers to share or bookmark your blog.
Technorati: Use Technorati tags at the end of your blog posts as a way of classifying your blog posts by topic and have them added to Technorati’s index (Technorati is the most important search engine for blogs).
Technorati Tag Generator: Use this automatic Technorati tag generator to avoid having to create the HTML code manually.
I recently had a conversation with a client that really opened my eyes. As she was thanking me for making the process of developing her new website such a pleasure, she admitted that she had delayed having a new website for two years. Why? Because in the past, other web designers she spoke with either made her feel stupid for not knowing what they were talking about, or like a jerk for wanting to define “creativity” in her own terms, or a poser for wanting great results within an admittedly tight budget. Now that’s just tragic.
It is our client’s job to be an expert at whatever it is that they do and it is our job to be an expert at what we do – in this case, web design. Since our clients are not web designers, we should not expect them to know everything that we know. Thus, we need to be able to speak about the design process in an understandable way – without speaking down to anyone. The client is not stupid because they don’t understand web terminology, we must simply find a way to rephrase what we are saying until they do.
Whether we’re a web design, graphic designer or interior designer, it’s our job as the designer to interpret the client’s vision and then translate it into the final product. If their vision doesn’t quite work technically, we need to offer suggested modifications to make it work, without compromising the integrity of their vision. Too many times people have come to me stating how unhappy their experience was with a web designer and how much they don’t like their website, because the designer inflicted their own aesthetic on the client’s project.
A good web designer should collaborate with the client on their project every step of the way, ensuring that the end result reflects that company’s image, purpose and personality. If you are in the market for a new website or an upgrade for one that you already have, consider the following helpful tips:
Your role
The process starts with finding the perfect designer, one who understands your needs and produces high quality work. Their job will be to translate your vision into something visually appealing and operational. Your job will be to provide direction.
Be clear and focused
Think strategically about what you want your website to accomplish and who your intended audience is. Make sure your designer understands your mission, goals and objectives. A good, clear plan will result in the best possible outcome.
Put the details in writing
Provide as much material as you can to your designer, including headlines, content, thumbnail sketches, images, and any other ideas you might have. Writing things down before you turn the project over to the designer ensures a smoother process and keeps design costs down. Establish a budget and timeline for when the project should be completed.
Provide background materials
Provide your designer with your business card, letterhead, company brochure, copies of your current advertising and promotional material, an electronic copy of your logo, and anything else you think might be useful background.
Trust the professional
That’s why you hired them. Don’t waste your time and money by micro-managing. Offer your opinions but also give them the freedom to be creative.
Collaborate
Throughout the design process, not just at the end, make sure you’re available for quick, incremental feedback to avoid wasteful misunderstandings. You wouldn’t wait until your house is already built to tell the contractor you want an extra bedroom, so don’t wait until the end to convey your feedback to the designer – by then its too late.
Measuring and understanding your website’s success is a critical process that is sometimes overlooked. Many times, marketing efforts stop at getting traffic to the site. The next step is to evaluate results.
When analyzing your online marketing program’s results, evaluate not only whether the initiative succeeded in meeting objectives, but also how well it moved your business toward its goals. One way to evaluate marketing program results is through a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis. ROI is a computation that tells you how much you received compared to what you put into a project.
ROI can be expressed in terms of a dollar amount or as a ratio.
The dollar amount formula tells how much you increased profit in total dollars as a result of the project: [Cost savings and earnings as a result of the project] minus [Dollars invested]
The ratio formula tells how much you got back, in dollars, for each dollar you invested in a project:
[Cost savings and earnings as a result of the project] divided by [Dollars Invested]
Re-Setting Annual Goals
Although monitoring the results of your marketing initiatives and fine-tuning initiatives throughout the year is a good idea, no less than once per year, you’ll want to perform a deeper evaluation. Ask yourself:
What was the original purpose of your website? Does your website still meet those goals? If not, identify where you strayed and what steps should be taken to get back on track.
Is the site’s content relevant? Does it engage your visitors? Is your site easy to navigate so people can find what they need?
Are you growing your subscriber list? If your list hasn’t grown in a while, perhaps it’s time to look at your method of getting people to subscribe or find a way to offer a fresh new take on a common subject. Remember that people tend to gravitate towards new information and the more recent and updated your content is, the more likely they will be interested.
Internet marketing involves a lot of networking, which in turn should create fresh opportunities for your business. Has there been an increase in the number of clients or customers you have? If you’re stalling somewhere in the middle, you might be stuck with the same old market. Consider boosting your networking and promotions to gain more traffic and expand your market segment.
Review your goals.
Are you exactly where you want to be right now? Are you effectively targeting your audience? Have there been changes in the market that affects your business?
After your evaluation, it’s time to assess your marketing plan and draw up a fresh one in its place and then use that as a reference for the upcoming year.
By taking this approach, you can better choose marketing programs with positive results:
- Happier customers represent a return on investment.
- Online activities that influenced on offline transactions. For example, a sale leads originating from online programs.
- Online activities that result in long term growth for your brand and access to new markets and customers i.e. extending your reach beyond the city limits.
The Internet is not a level playing field. The Internet marketplace is extremely “noisy” and Internet marketing itself, although not rocket science, is multi-faceted and dynamic. The learning curve is steep for web marketers to learn what works and what does not. In fact, what works today may not work tomorrow.
There is no formula for an effective Internet marketing strategy; it depends on your individual situation. It is important to identify your strengths and weaknesses so you can come up with a great marketing plan appropriate for you. When you find out what you’re able to accomplish with your resources at the moment, you will be better able to level the playing field by creating a great web marketing strategy for your online business.
Teleconferences, Webconferences and Webinars
Teleconferencing is an easy, economical way to meet with two or more remote parties. Web conferencing is perfect for team collaboration, sales presentations and training sessions—any time you want to add a visual dimension to your teleconferencing. A Webinar lets you reach out to large groups of remote customers, prospects and employees at a fraction of the cost of meeting in person.
Video and Podcasts
In March 2008 there were 78.3 million videos uploaded and growing at approximately 20 percent every month. In one day there is often more than 150,000 videos uploaded. In July of 2008 there were over 5 billion videos viewed on YouTube. Over 75% of the U.S. Internet audience views online videos.
This accounts for 558 million hours of online video watching on a monthly basis. YouTube alone has over 258 million registered users, 50% of them visit weekly if not more.
When it comes to marketing, video can be a great way to interact with potential customers, as long as it is done correctly in order to attract new customers and not chase them away. They must see your video as providing them with interaction as well as value in order to be an effective means of social media marketing.
First, determine what category your products or services fit into. What type of video could you post that consumers would find valuable and interactive? Could you put together a how-to video? What about an entertaining video showcasing your products? Or a podcast that is entertaining and informative?
One of the best ways to promote your website is by writing articles that you can post in e-zines and sites that provide free content to e-zine publishers. This will help you develop credibility and, with time, build a solid customer base.
Periodically give away an article to another relevant site for use in their newsletters and on their website. Include hyperlinks in body copy. In return, they must retain your name, copyright information, and a link to your website.
Borrow and Share
Everyone has content that’s worth getting out, so why not share it with anyone willing to post it on their site? In the same vein, why not borrow content from others who have supporting information that will enhance the experience of your website customers? No one can cover all things at all times so why not share?
Find the top two or three publishers/bloggers/reporters who cover your industry and grab an RSS feed. Insert it in the news section of your website. This may not produce any results, but it will help you get used to—and begin to understand the value of—the shared-content concept.
User-Generated Content, Social Networking and Dialogue
Today, the digital network is about user-generated content, social networking and dialogue, providing strong channels for businesses to have direct relationships with prospects and customers, making the transition from an e-business platform to a “me-business” or “we-business” model. Companies who choose to be active and participate in these conversations are those who realize and respect the true power of the customer.
Because prospective buyers now place higher value on recommendations by other users rather than on corporate promotional materials on the web, smart companies will leverage this knowledge in order to better help these prospective customers with their purchase decisions.
If invited, a business might be surprised to find how many of its customers are more than happy to give feedback on their experience with a product, service, or solution that you offer. Pick a product, service, or area of interest on your site and start getting content from your customers.
Create a profile on Yelp and CitySearch and link to them with a “customers say it best” link on your website. You’ll want to monitor these profiles so that if you receive negative feedback, you can take the opportunity to post a reply stating how you’ve taken action to rectify whatever the issue was, thereby turning a negative into a positive.
Research, write and send out optimized press releases about your website and your offers – this will attract visitors, build your subscriber list and increase the number of links to your website, which will raise your ranking in the search engines.
Distribute online press releases at least monthly. Include hyperlinks in body copy. If the content is relevant and well-written, the release may get reprinted and hosted on news and analysis sites with lots of links to them.
When you submit your press release, make sure you research your topic to optimize the most relevant keywords to your website, services, products, books, etc. Visit Good Keywords, a free service where you can search for keywords and phrases related to your particular industry.
The purpose of an e-newsletter is to serve your customers, not your company. You don’t need to send a monthly e-newsletter with the fierce discipline of an Olympian athlete, dead set on getting that email out at 10am on the second Tuesday of every month, dropping everything to make sure it gets out! No customer is ever waiting with baited breath for a generic e-newsletter to hit their inboxes, so instead of clinging to an low-impact e-newsletter habit, it would be much more beneficial to launch a timely, well-segmented email campaign that has relevant information of the most interest to your customer base.
Target Market/Segmentation
In its purest definition, a target market is described as the majority of people a business attracts, either by circumstance or design. As the industry evolves in terms of technology, education and specialization, many business owners are also learning to “position” their businesses to draw a specific type of customer. Target marketing is a highly effective business strategy. The idea is to increase sales by first identifying, and then targeting smaller, yet more profitable customer groups, or segments, within the total market.
Focus on relevancy and segmentation. In your next e-newsletter, ask your customers what they are interested in, what they’d like to hear more about and how often… then segment audiences and build campaigns around this information. Don’t forget to keep building your email list so that you have a qualified, targeted audience to market to.
As valuable as traffic to your website is, it’s essentially useless if people land on your pages and have no idea what to do. A call to action (CTA) is something you add to your web pages to compel a visitor to take a desired action. A primary call to action should be obvious, appear above the fold and not be buried in your text. To make them stand out they might be images and use colors that are in contrast to the main colors of the page. Tell your visitors to “buy now while supplies last,” “subscribe to our free newsletter,” or “contact us to receive your discount” and more of them will—they’ll contact you, subscribe for more, and even make a purchase.
A secondary call to action might be a little smaller in size or use colors that, while still standing apart, will blend a little more with the page. You want visitors to see them, but not before your primary call. A text link at the bottom of your page saying ‘contact us for more information’ might be an example of your secondary call to action on that page.
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