October 19th, 2011
The original popularity of the Internet was due to the fact that it was built on a World Wide Web. The concept of having immediate access to sites from around the world was instantly appealing, but this is not the case today. Instead, many people are ecstatic about the Web thanks to what it can give them on a local basis.
There are all kinds of studies and statistics about the use of online searching for consumer goods and services, but the basic fact of them all is that most people (at least 70 percent or more) will automatically head to their computers when looking for a local service or product.
Whether you need a plumber, a bookstore, a specialty food, or a masseuse, it is likely that you will head to your preferred search engine instead of the yellow pages. This is also why social media is “going local” too.
Local Social Media
We understand that most of the social media sites are jam-packed with user generated content. The sites don’t have a lot of information written by a person who is paid to contribute descriptive stories and information about the subjects, and instead it is the members who fill pages full of … continue reading article.
April 29th, 2010
Every online business provides great service to generate satisfaction among their customers. As each and every customer receives satisfaction over their products or the services they get, there is a great chance that they will become a return customer and buy again. Better yet, they will recommend you to other people that could generate more business for you and your site.
As more traffic is driven to your site, you can entice many of them to subscribe to your mailing list or opt-in list. This is a list where in website visitors agree to be sent promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and such that could keep them updated about your site or the niche of your site. These promotional materials are sent via e-mail to the members of the list in different time intervals.
When using e-mail as the media of your marketing and advertisements, you eliminate the need for high costs. Email is free and if you can manage to make your own promotional advertisements you can also save a bundle there. With an opt-in subscribers list, you are pretty sure that what you are sending out is received, viewed and read by the subscribers and not simply being deleted. … continue reading article.
March 26th, 2010
Why oh why is the word WHY such an important marketing trigger?
It is pretty simply really….if you know the reason WHY, you are more likely to ACT…..
I have a 3 year old daughter who seems to only have one word in her vocabulary… WHY
“Put your shoes on” – WHY?
“You need a coat” – WHY?
“You need to brush your teeth” – WHY?
“You can’t have that” – WHY?
February 26th, 2010
In this day and age small companies are using the internet as a key part of building their customer base, keeping in contact with their clients and also using it as a means of advertising.
Having a website is essential today, however it is what you do with it which will determine if having it in the first place was money well spent or money down the drain! This is why online marketing is essential.
The common mistake is that people think as soon as a website is designed, like magic hundreds of customers are going to start flocking to take advantage of the services and products on offer. If this is you and you are about to have your website designed, it won’t happen, you need to give the development of your website much more thought!
95% of websites don’t actually achieve anything. Why? Because they were never designed with the objectives of the business in mind from the start…
Too many websites are designed with the sole purpose of selling products or services.
If you want to benefit from the rewards the power of the internet brings you need to turn your website into a lead generation tool and don’t try and sell … continue reading article.
December 5th, 2009
Increase sales, product/ service launch, drive brand loyalty, brand engagement, brand awareness.. whatever your objective – email marketing can help.
It was hardly surprising to hear that in 2010 email marketing would be the top area of investment amongst business executives. StrongMail’s Marketing Trends in 2010 Survey found that 69% of businesses are planning to increase their email marketing budgets, with the second area of investment being social media marketing (59%).
The true benefit of email marketing – it can be used across any business types. You don’t have to be a large business with a huge marketing budget to use it. Email marketing can be relatively inexpensive in comparison to the revenue it can generate. It is also a known fact that email marketing is up to 20 times more cost effective than direct mail where there are postage and material costs.
In my business, we spend about £3000 a month on email marketing and for that spend regularly generate in excess of £70,000 a month from this type of marketing. You have to try it, if you haven’t you are missing out on the most lucrative forms of marketing. Read here for further information on email marketing
Not only is … continue reading article.
November 27th, 2009
OK, so maybe us B2B marketers do feel the frustration of coming second to marketers that are targeting individual consumers. The majority of marketing research that is out there seems no doubt written from a B2C angle.
Its been over a year now since Brian Solis introduced the conversation prism and social media research for B2B markets is still lagging behind. So what I hear you say? Maybe instead of licking our wounds we should do something about it. I say we should just jump in and be creative – lets give them something to talk about!
And where better to start than with Facebook. In October 2009, Hitwise found that Facebook is completely dominating the UK social networking scene. Facebook has more than 300 million active users with more than 10 million of these becoming page fans every single day. Hitwise is a very useful tool as it shows regularly updated social networking statistics.
Getting Started
Joining is relatively easy as Facebook have a step by step guide for advertisers. When an organisation joins Facebook they cannot create a profile like they can with an individual account (this is against Facebook policy and could risk losing all your data). An organisation wishing … continue reading article.
October 27th, 2009
It’s pretty much a given these days that businesses must have a website if they are to compete effectively in a crowded marketplace.
But, in reality, how does marketing your goods and services online benefit the average small business?
Director of highly successful web development business Activ Web Design, Simon Rickett is certainly well qualified to explain.
Since launching Activ in March 2008 we have helped literally hundreds of SMEs and owner managed businesses improve their prospects through marketing on the internet.
Simon Rickett added: “To answer this question, you really don’t have to look further than the wide selection of glowing testimonials featured on our own website – with many customers discovering that their new site quickly paid for itself.
“From golf clubs to restaurants and games retailers to double glazing firms, customers nationally – and internationally – are reporting increased business as a direct result of their Activ website.
“In some instances, our satisfied customers are reporting higher sales while others are enjoying significant cost reductions in overheads. One restaurateur, for example, used to send out his Christmas menus by post but is making considerable savings on printing and postage by referring customers to the menu section of his new website.”