Your web presence is of vital importance to your business. It is a well-established fact that content is at the heart of your web presence. You need to write content and you need to share content with others easily.

You will only be successful when it comes to your web presence if you are able to successfully and easily share content with other people, who will, in turn, share it with other people, etc. If other people feel that your content is worth sharing but it turns out to be too difficult to send to others, they won’t bother a second time. The world today is extremely fast paced. Everyone wants instant gratification of all types.

If you expect people to talk about what you are offering, you need to make it really easy to do so. If it takes more than one (or two, at the most) steps to accomplish this, forget it. If, on the other hand, you have a social media button in plain view, people will be willing to click on it. If your web presence is built around blog software (such as WordPress, for example), there are some plugins that you will want to install. They are Facebook Share and TweetMeme Retweet Button. It will take you very little time to install and set them up.

Once the plugins are installed, you will be able to show the buttons on your posts and pages (wherever on the page you would like them to appear). They will also indicate how many times other people have shared your content with others as well as some other options. If you don’t use WordPress, it will be a little more challenging for you. You will have to install the codes for each of the social media channels on your website. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, you may have to consider hiring someone else to do it. You can get instructions from Facebook and Twitter. They are relatively simple to install.

Call-to-action

Remember that it is important to tell your readers what you want them to do. If you don’t tell them, they won’t understand and there will be no chance at interactions. You shouldn’t think that they won’t be willing to do what you ask of them. Most likely, they will be willing. If you want them to share your content, be as specific as possible. Choose to identify whichever social media channels you feel will be most effective and don’t be afraid to name them specifically.

Understanding your target audience

It goes without saying that you need to understand your target audience before you can do anything else. With that knowledge in hand, you can then build your web presence. Never forget the concept of WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). Part of truly understanding your target audience means that you are able to identify their problems and solve them. You need to have your audience in mind when you start to build your web presence. As you are building the content, if you have an understanding of the audience, you will know what to offer them. You will also be more knowledgeable about offering products and/or services that are of great interest to them and that they will be inclined to buy.

Always be as accessible as possible

Being accessible online means a lot of things. First of all, you need to have a simple and straightforward navigation system that doesn’t present any obstacles to the user. The last thing that you need is to put obstacles in the way of your visitors doing what you want them to do for you. You also want people to be able to find you online very easily. People want to engage with you. You just need to make it as easy as possible for them.

Conclusion

With such a wealth of competition and with so many people trying to make their mark in the online world, it is more important than ever for you to have as much of an edge as you can. So many aspects of social media are important in business today. Having your web presence be social media friendly will absolutely make people want to connect with you in a huge way. Ensuring that your web presence is such a simple thing to do and at the same time, it is pure genius!

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.

No related posts.

QR codes have become an important part of the success of your social media marketing campaign. There is a growing understanding that they are important. However, it is one thing to understand the importance and another to use them correctly.

Lately, QR codes have been getting some negative publicity. The reason for this is that some business people, although they are extremely knowledgeable in several aspects of business, are not so knowledgeable when it comes to using QR codes in their social media marketing campaign in a way that strengthens their business. It is truly a matter of education when it comes to using them appropriately and really leveraging them to their fullest potential.

QR codes, as independent entities, are tools.  You can think about them as doors to something else. The information that is beyond that door (the QR code) is what will cause a positive or a negative result. Sadly, there are many business people who don’t really understand how to use QR codes to their fullest potential. There are some mistakes that are commonly made and if you are able to avoid them, you will enjoy greater success in your business.

One thing that is important to remember is that since QR codes are usually scanned by mobile devices, the websites to which the mobile device owner is led must be optimized for viewing on mobile devices. If the QR code leads to a URL of a website that is not optimized for viewing on a mobile device, the purpose of the QR code has been defeated.

• Always test the code: This one seems so simple yet many people forget to do it. Because of the fact that humans are not able to read a QR code by simply looking at it, it will need to be tested with a mobile device that will read it for you. The smartest thing to do is to test the code with a variety of different mobile devices just to make sure that it works. This should be done before you consider launching your campaign. Testing the code is a very easy way to identify problems. It is always a possibility that the person who designed the QR code made some sort of design error. Testing it will let you know that immediately.
   
• Place the QR code strategically: If the code is not easily scannable, your campaign may not be a success. It is important to consider the strength of the reception that the mobile device will get based on where the code is placed. The easier you make it for your audience, the more likely they will be to connect with you based on that experience.
   
• Always keep it simple: Complicated QR codes won’t do you any good. You should always be sure to use short URLs and try to avoid plain text because barcode scanners can’t extract the link from them. It is certainly not a possibility that the owner of the mobile device will be copying and pasting anything. The QR code should be thought of as a link that can be successfully picked up by any mobile device. If there is a lot of work (or any at all) involved, your audience members won’t bother. The last thing that you want or need is to have a QR code that causes errors or just doesn’t do what it is supposed to do.
   
• Make sure that it takes them where it is supposed to: Make sure that your QR code leads to a proper, functioning website or other content that can be accessed and used. You can achieve this by either hiring someone to ensure that this will happen or building your own mobile website using a content management system.
   
•  Always offer tremendous value: You will want to try to offer some sort of award or incentive to the people who are scanning your code. You can mix up the awards that you offer, depending on what you are trying to highlight. Whatever you do offer, you need to make sure that it is exciting and holds the interest of other people. Be sure to include a call-to-action and guarantee that you offer at least one of the following:
  • Free downloads that will be of interest
  • Time-sensitive access
  • A contest where they can instantly win something
  • Special gifts, coupons, or other offers
  • Exclusive information that is not shared with many people

Conclusion

It is excellent if you can put yourself in the shoes of the other person when considering how you want to present your QR code and your offerings behind it. If you ask yourself if you would be happy to be the recipient of what you are offering to others, you are offering the right thing and your business will enjoy the benefits of that. QR codes are an excellent and effective tool for your business. If you aren’t sure whether they will work for your business, give them a try. You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. Ultimately, QR codes are about communication in a form that may be different than what you are used to. It is another tool that will help you to build relationships with your customers and enhance your business.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.

You might also like:

1. QR Codes and Social Media
2. What You Should Know About QR Codes
3. Link Building as an Online Marketing Strategy

On your journey to build relationships, you have developed a substantial web presence by sharing your content and interacting with your online connections. You share in order to help. Always avoid giving people the hard sell no matter what.

Your main objective for writing and syndicating content in your niche or industry is to provide other people with valuable, educational, and useful information. As you share more and more of your content, you start to build stronger and stronger relationships with the people in your online communities. You establish yourself as a subject matter expert (SME) and you keep strengthening your credibility and your reputation by interacting with others and consistently providing them with information that can help them to solve their problems. There is no other motive for you whatsoever. Nobody wants to be “sold.”

A right time and a wrong time

From a practical perspective, as a business owner, there will come a time, of course, when you will be selling your goods and/services. Just remember that your approach to selling your offerings to other people must be done in the most appropriate and unobtrusive manner possible. An appropriate place to connect your readers with what you are selling is at the bottom of your article in a resource box on your landing page. It is very important to remember that you shouldn’t consider selling anything until you feel that the relationship with the other person is strong enough to withstand it. The trust and credibility must have a very strong foundation before that point. Always remember to avoid (at all cost) allowing your content to sound like a commercial.  If you don’t avoid this, you may suffer consequences in two very important ways: your readers may reject you and your articles may be turned down for publication. Most of the article directories have strict guidelines about what they will and won’t accept for publication. Self-promotion is a giant no-no!

There are several things that you must try to avoid when it comes to your content:

• No name dropping: You should try to keep your content as generic as possible when discussing product brand names. It is ok to mention specifics in the resource box but it is not ok to mention specifics in the body of your article. You should use the article to give your readers helpful tips and tricks, and other pieces of information that you feel they will find valuable. If you provide them with useful information, they will keep coming back to you for more.
   
• Avoid mentioning money: Anytime you mention a price in your content, you are automatically trying to sell what you have to other people. There is simply no place for it in the content that you are providing to others. That is what goes on an advertisement. Never use blatant sales text in your articles.
   
• Not educating your customers: It is extremely important to communicate in as transparent a way as possible. This transparency should start at the very beginning of your relationship and follow through forever. The more honest and forthright you are with other people, the more they will respect and trust you. If you include this in the foundation of your relationship, it will take you very far.
   
• Not being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes: If you are able to make other people understand that you are one of them and that you truly understand what they are going through and how they feel, they will relate to you on a human (and emotional) level. You should never give them the impression that you are different (or God forbid, above) them. First of all, it isn’t true and second of all, you won’t get anywhere with an attitude like that.

Conclusion

Your focus should always be on helping other people. If you put them first, you won’t run the risk of being misunderstood or coming across negatively. Your objective should be to continue to build credibility and knowledge and to continue to hold the position of being the person who others come to when they need answers. You should remember that you are selling something every time you interact with another person online. What you are selling is creative thought, valuable information, and compelling and exciting interactions.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.

You might also like:

1. What to Avoid on Twitter
2. Twitter Mistakes to Avoid
3. LinkedIn Mistakes to Avoid

There are many different ways that you can approach QR codes for your marketing strategy. Sometimes, it is hard to decipher which tactics, tools and practices work most effectively. With some education and experimentation, you will find what’s best.

What is a QR code?

A QR code is a 2-dimensional barcode image that can be scanned by a mobile device. The barcode encapsulates data in two directions and the person who is doing the scanning can do it both vertically and horizontally. Your QR codes connect your web presence with the offline world that we live in.

What types of data can be stored in a QR code?

QR codes can store over 7,000 numbers. In addition to numbers, they can store several other types of date, including calendar entries, Email, contact information, phone numbers, MMS/SMS messages, hyperlinks, and text. Because of their capability of storing data, that opens up a door to all sorts of other possibilities. Videos can be viewed, apps can be downloaded, the person with the mobile device has the ability to check in, Twitter status can be updated, the person can “Like” Facebook pages, etc.

Where are QR codes found?

The barcode can be placed almost anywhere on a surface in almost any location. If you put barcodes online, you should keep in mind that they should enhance the reader’s experience. You should try to make it as easy as possible for them to get to where you want them to be. Wherever your barcode sits, it must always be easy to scan. Remember to always consider physical properties around the barcode so that nothing interferes with the scanability.

Are QR codes becoming more popular?

QR codes are becoming more and more popular. More and more people are scanning codes for all kinds of information and companies are beginning to realize very quickly how much they can strengthen their position in the marketplace.

Are there other types of two-dimensional barcodes other than QR codes?

There are several different two-dimensional codes, such as QR codes, ScanLife EZcode, Microsoft Tag, and DataMatrix. There are, of course, some major differences in the different codes. For example, Microsoft Tag and ScanLife EZcode can only be decoded by tools that are sold by those companies. QR and DataMatrix, on the other hand, are more open and can be decoded by several different devices. QR codes have taken on a dominant role in the world of two-dimensional codes and many people are using them more and more often.

Is there a cost involved with barcodes?

There are tools available for most mobile devices, many of which are either free or cost very little. If you wish to run a two-dimensional barcode campaign, this is what you will need:

• Output (download file type, size, color, etc)
• Code format (Microsoft Tag, QR, ScanLife EZcode, etc)
• Stored data (SMS, contact information, hyperlink, etc)

Is there a way to track metrics?

Web analytics and URL shorteners for two-dimensional barcodes are a good place to start to track metrics. If you want an array of tracking information, you will need to have a barcode generator tool that has a analytics tracking feature built in. Some of the management tools that are available only track the number of scans that people do while others are more sophisticated and offer more detailed analytics, such as geolocation, demographics, repeat scans, etc. There are many different tools that are either inexpensive or free:

• Microsoft Tag
• QReate and Track
• Paperlinks
• Tappinn
• QReateBUZZ

What is the value of a QR code to the customer?

The value to the customer is in all of the coupons, discounts, special content and helpful hints and tips that will be available through scanning. That information is not available to anyone who cannot scan. A clever idea is to include a QR code on your business card so that it is extremely easy for your customers to get what they need with one scan.

Is it easy to scan two-dimensional barcodes?

With all of the barcode possibilities out there, it can be confusing sometimes. Many people have the capability to scan barcodes with their mobile device but don’t know how to do it. The easiest way to educate your customers is to show them how to 1) Get the reader application (app), 2) Scan the code and 3) Take a look at the information that appears.

Should the scanability be tested before it is released into the world?

As a business owner, if is imperative that you make sure that your QR code(s) work before you give the information to anyone else. Make sure that whomever you are working with to institute the barcodes into your marketing material is competent. Going through the work of setting up the barcode campaign only to find out that it isn’t functioning would be disastrous.

Conclusion

Now that you understand how important barcodes can be to the success of your business, you need to make sure that the result that they produce is exactly what you want and that you should have the customer in mind before you do anything. The easier you make the path to obtaining the much-desired information, the more people will want to connect with you and your business in that manner. It is well established that QR codes enhance engagement and it is definitely worth exploring and using in some capacity.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.

You might also like:

1. QR Codes and Social Media
2. Generating Word-of-Mouth Buzz About Your Business
3. Making Holiday Buzz Through Social Media

People are talking about QR codes and QR marketing. QR codes are codes that allow you to tag on your mobile devices. They look like 2-D barcodes and the partnering of them with social media will cause a business revolution.

QR codes have actually been around for many years; however, their new connection with social media has not been around for very long but is gaining a tremendous momentum at a very rapid pace.

Resources, rate of adoption, and valuable numbers

• A large percentage of people who own smartphones have downloaded applications to their phones that will scan barcodes.
   
• In the second half of last year, there was a huge increase in the number of people who scan QR codes. There is a prediction that the increase in their use is cyclical (or at least peaks around holidays). However, the increase of use during non-holiday times is also exponential.
   
• The scanning method has become more sophisticated than it once was. Millions of people have code readers on their phones; however, the new feature, which allows you to scan and send allows a much greater of QR code accessibility, which can now reach the majority of phones with built-in cameras.

The usefulness keeps increasing

Once a QR code is scanned, one of three things will appear as a result: a link (one that you have defined), a record of contact information, or a text field. It is essential that you have the ability to reroute people from one unique URL to another for QR codes to really work in partnership with social media. This approach is revolutionary because it will put valuable information at people’s fingertips where once they would have to wait almost indefinitely to get any answers. In the near future, there will be no end to the type and amount of information that can be obtained through the bar codes.

How do QR codes work effectively with social media?

• Enhancing an already-excellent idea: This concept applies to any and all businesses and this approach is doing a great deal to dramatically increase business revenue. When it comes to consumers getting involved with social media, they will be far more inclined to buy products and/or services once their social relationships have been established, strengthened and maintained. The question is how can QR codes entice people into buying? The reality is that once people have made a purchase, there is a much greater likelihood that that they will become loyal. The existence and use of QR codes makes it tremendously easy for people to continue in that manner.
   
• Helping to solve business issues: One of the tremendous advantages of pairing QR codes and social media is that people have a direct, easy and fast connection to social media through the codes and the mobile devices. They can make instant decisions to commit to social networks.

What is the potential of QR codes and social media?

There is a large variety of uses and potential uses for QR codes and social media:

• Links to maps
   
• Scavenger hunts
   
• Landing pages for customers/web traffic/blog readers
   
• Confirming that someone is actually at a specific event (a type of check-in)
   
• Business cards, labels, stickers, etc

Conclusion

The approach of using QR codes connected with social media should be strategic and should always go in the direction of research. This partnership really lends itself well to instant gratification. The more people get involved, the more usefulness will be discovered. It is a grave error to assume that QR codes and social media are a fleeting fancy. Their usefulness and value are most definitely here to stay.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.

You might also like:

1. Making Holiday Buzz Through Social Media
2. Combining Social Media With Traditional Media
3. Retailers Hit the Mark With Social Media This Holiday Season

You use social media to promote your business and you conduct business in person. Both are important for the success of your business. How do you provide your traditional promotion with a way to access your online promotion?

Even though people do a great deal of business online, there is a lot more that people do offline (or in person). In order to be truly successful in business, you need to find a way to integrate your online business efforts with your in-person business dealings and relationships. So, how do you promote your online business when you are doing traditional business promotion?

• Make business cards that lead people to online events: The information on your business card must be precise and extremely effective at drawing people to you. A great way to bring the business that you conduct in person together with your online efforts is to include a special code and/or Facebook Fan Page, which will give people a discount to events that you have or will organize in the future.
   
• Combine your web presence with traditional advertising: If you are running a traditional advertisement in a newspaper, magazine, etc, you can include your business’s Twitter handle, iPhone App, or Facebook page. You can also include the URL to your website on your advertisement. People nowadays really like to be able to check out your website before they go any further with you.
   
• Combine online features with in-person events: Many companies have been getting together lately as a group and are blogging about each other. All sorts of valuable and informative information can come from this. Another great vehicle is photos or short videos. If your business is having an event, you can film or photograph people using your products and then you can post the photos and/or video on your business’s Facebook Fan Page. The nice thing about that is that people don’t actually have to attend the event in person in order to participate. 
   
• Use your car or truck as a billboard: This is an excellent way to combine online and offline efforts. Numerous business owners recognize how important it is to get involved with social media to increase the exposure of their offerings and reputation.
   
• Be as creative as possible: There are so many ways to offer online information (including ways to reach you) with your traditional advertising. You should make the promotional effort as interesting and as creative as possible. If it is interesting, you will attract more people.

Conclusion

Combining your online and traditional promotion for your business is the most effective approach that you can take when it comes to achieving success for your business. Your objective should be to combine the two in a way that is a dramatic improvement over only using one or the other. Both traditional and online promotion are essential and if done correctly, the two approaches should complement and enhance each other and they should be effective enough to really touch people and make them want to be involved. The initial promotion is just the beginning. Its purpose is to get people interested and wanting more. The next step is for them to continue to pursue information about your business online.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.

You might also like:

1. Leveraging Social Media for Your Offline Business
2. Using Social Media to Promote Your Business
3. Email Marketing Strategies That Work

As important as social media is to the success of your business, using it, even to its fullest potential, should never be at the expense of traditional media. They must work together to allow your business to flourish properly.

If you are a business person who understands the importance of integrating the two types of media to get maximum results, you are doing all of the correct things for your business. On the other hand, if you are not so sure of that importance, you might ask how you can integrate all of the social media with your traditional marketing and public relations strategy.

The fact is that social media has become an extremely important part of how businesses market their brand and their products. Technology offers so much at this point that marketers are no longer satisfied with only understanding how to use Facebook and Twitter. They now want to understand how to integrate social media with traditional media into their advertising, public relations and direct marketing campaigns. Of course, traditional media carries with it a great deal of credibility and although it may not create the same kind of buzz that social media creates, it is a very important contributor to the success of business. There are subtle ways in which social media and traditional media meet without your having put them together consciously. For example, anytime you have your business’s logo on an online advertisement for your business, you are seeing that coupling.

In order to succeed with this approach, your mind needs to wrap itself around coming up with ways of thinking about integrating social media, traditional media, and digital media. It is more about the framework than it is about the process. If someone builds you the framework for using social and traditional media for the full advantage of your business, you can apply that over and over again. Once you have the established structure, you will be able to do it on your own as many times as you need to.

• Truth: It is a known fact that consumers trust the opinions and recommendations of other consumers much more than they trust the business owners. That is the main reason why social media produces such successful results for businesses. People speak to each other. The trust that consumers have for business owners takes time but it will happen eventually.
   
• Yin and yang: If you were to imagine any symbol when it comes to the integration of social and traditional media, the symbol that expresses the relationship most clearly is yin and yang. The two parts (or types of media in this case) can exist separately. However, in order to truly work as a complete concept, the need to work together. Together, they complete the picture.
   
• Mutual benefit: When you use social and traditional media together, they feed off of each other and are mutually beneficial. Together, they create a much stronger and much more effective and successful marketing campaign. They complement each other so well and each makes up for whatever is lacking. They complete each other.

There are several points that you need to ponder before you, as a business owner, build your social and traditional integration framework and start to work with the two forms of media. The questions are:

• Your goals: What is your business goal and what is your communications goal?
   
• Who is your target market? Before you start, you need to be very sure who your target market is. It is recommended that you don’t only concentrate on demographics. If possible, try to identify with your target market on a more personal level. Try to find out what they look like, how they sound, who their friends are and why they are interested in your product.
   
• Where is your target market? This does not just mean where they are physically. It also refers to what point they are at in their lives. If you can come up with that answer, you will have the ability to connect with your audience on a much more personal and meaningful level.
   
• Connecting with your target market: You need to figure out how to touch them in a way that makes them want to stay connected to you.
   
• Interacting with your target market: Once you have established contact, you need to figure out how to make them stay connected to you. The more you interact with them, the stronger your relationship will become.
   
• Getting your target market to share you with their friends: Once you have established a strong relationship with the members of your target market, they will start to trust you. Once they trust you, they will want to share you and your offerings with people whom they care about. You will see that the success will really start to boom after this has happened.

Conclusion

When you integrate social and traditional media, you are giving a great deal more strength to your campaign than if you had a single-layer marketing campaign. Integrating adds another dimension and you will see that the success of your business critically depends on that integration.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.

You might also like:

1. Is Traditional Advertising Obsolete?
2. The Impact of Social Media on Advertising
3. Cold Calling Redefined by Social Media

Most businesses move along the path of success because of word of mouth. The more people talk about your business, the more other people will become interested and want to get involved. So, how do you get people to talk?

There are a few proven methods that will successfully get people to start talking about what you are offering and what you can do for them.

• Social status: When the Internet was first becoming popular, everyone wanted to remain anonymous. People didn’t want anyone knowing any of their business. Nowadays, with the sophistication of technology, there isn’t such a thing as anonymity. Everyone and everything is out in the open. We strengthen our status through our online exposure. The more exposure, the better. When it comes to your online status, it is something that should be shared with others. In fact, it is something that you will want to share. The more you connect and interact with other people, the more they will want to suspend the buzz about your business and what you have to offer. Another great way to increase your status and reputation is to get thought leaders in your industry involved. They automatically carry credibility and their credibility will serve to enhance yours.
   
• Value: People love being on the receiving end of valuable stuff, especially when they don’t have to pay for it. Free things make people want to buy things from the business that offers the free stuff. Giving things away helps to make your brand stronger and more noticeable. What marketers have learned is that if you offer products and/or services that have proven value, people will be willing to do almost anything to stay connected to you and your business.
   
• Exclusivity: If you offer products and/or services that are unique and exclusive, you have an edge over everyone else. Absolutely everyone wants to have exclusivity and be on the receiving end of it. When it comes to the concept of exclusivity, it isn’t only about products and services. It is also about knowledge and information, which can be fodder for enlightened conversations. Everyone wants to buzz about secrets. They want to feel as though they are special enough to be privy to the classified information. This is where the word-of-mouth concept comes in. Once they have been included in the secret, they will tell their “deserving” friends about it. Before you realize it, a tremendous buzz will have been created about your offerings.
   
• Limited supply: The less abundance you have regarding your products and/or services, the more people will want to get their hands on them. If they are fortunate enough to get their hands on those products and/or services, they will naturally tell other people about the fact that they snagged something rare and scarce. This will (because it is human nature) make other people want to get their hands on your offerings also. It is very easy to create scarcity. All you need to do is to create less of whatever you are selling and tell as many people about it as possible. Create a waiting list for people who want what you are selling. You may even consider offering only one product a day. The more elusive your offerings, the more people will crave them and do anything that they can to obtain them. Whatever you are offering, make sure that it is extremely unusual and something that your customers will not want to live without.

Conclusion

Generating word-of-mouth buzz about your business is not that complicated as long as you follow the logical steps. All people react on a human level and if your approach is correct, you will achieve the results that will strengthen your reputation and your relationships and help you to achieve great success in your business. If you communicate in effective and interesting ways, you will get people to start talking to each other and wanting to opt in to what you are selling.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.

You might also like:

1. Making Holiday Buzz Through Social Media
2. Using Social Media to Create Buzz for Your Events
3. Leveraging Social Media for Your Offline Business

The year is flying. The holidays are almost here. Now is the perfect time to start planning your social media marketing strategy. Millions of marketers are taking advantage of the opportunity to create buzz. How are they doing it?

It certainly is not too early to start to work on leveraging social media to its full potential to create a buzz for your business. Many business owners will be offering online discounts and other extraordinary offers that will attract customers and make them want to spend money. Many of those business owners will be using social media for their businesses for the first time ever. The following are tips on how to get started:

• Choosing a platform: Of course, the first thing that must be considered when executing your social media marketing strategy is which social media platform you want to use. A great and inexpensive way to start your social media marketing campaign is by using Twitter or Facebook. You may also want to consider creating and writing a blog or a forum to reach out to people.
   
• Offer something that is value-added to your customers: The more value you offer to your customers, the more they will want to connect with you. There are several ways to offer value, including coupons, posting discounts, etc. Of course, in order to get people interested enough to want to buy what you are selling, you must write about more than just your products and/or services. This is the perfect opportunity to offer valuable and educational information in the form of blogs, tweets, and Facebook messages. People love to learn new things and by offering information with no strings attached, you are strengthening your relationship with them and building trust and credibility in the relationship.
   
• Spread the value around: Make sure that you distribute the time that you spend on social media evenly. After you have chosen the social media channels that you want to use, share your valuable content to those channels and spend an equal amount of time on each. You should not fall into the trap of getting caught up in one particular social media channel because you won’t have enough time to devote to the other social media channels. There is only so much of your time that you can use for social media in general.
   
• Interact as much as possible with your customers: Think about your interactions with your customers as though you are at a holiday party and you are mingling with various people. In the case of your online interactions, you should start discussions, get involved in debates, promote discussions, and respond to feedback. That is exactly how you achieve success for your business through social media. The heart of the interaction is social.
   
• Attract viral attention: The holiday season is the perfect time to get your content to go viral. Social media empowers your customers and makes them feel that they want to tell other people about whom they care about your business, what you have to offer and what’s in it for them. During the holiday season, people are not as stressed and will, therefore, be more inclined to get involved with social media, which include sharing what they find interesting with their friends, family, and business associates.

Conclusion

This is a great time of year to use social media to strengthen your business. As you look at past holiday seasons, you can identify what worked and what didn’t work and make the most out of your past accomplishments to strengthen your business successes going forward. Although you have used social media all year to establish and maintain relationships with other people, using it to it create a buzz during the holiday season is special and will really do a great deal to end the year in a wonderful way and pave the way for a successful new year.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team and don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page.

You might also like:

1. Retailers Hit the Mark With Social Media This Holiday Season
2. Using Social Media to Create Buzz for Your Events
3. Making Time for Social Media

With the advent of social media and inbound marketing, there seems to be a trend toward online advertising and away from certain types of traditional advertising. There are certain types of advertising that are used less and less lately.

There are many possible reasons for this, among them being cost. Traditional advertising costs money. Lots of money. Inbound marketing, which is a marketing method that brings your customers to you, costs very little, if any, money. With the rapid development of technology, the world of sales, marketing and advertising is being drastically affected. One of the main reasons that certain forms of traditional marketing are fading into the distance is that with traditional marketing, it is very difficult to track the metrics, whereas, with online advertising, it is very easy to track the metrics (with such tools as Google Analytics).

Another sharp contrast between traditional advertising and online advertising is that you are not able to focus your advertising efforts so precisely with traditional advertising. With online advertising, you can pinpoint your specific niche and your specific potential customers and existing customers. You have absolutely no wasted efforts.

If you examine the way in which companies acquired leads a decade ago, you will see that it is very different from the way in which companies acquire leads today. With the competition being as stiff as it is, as a business, you really need to have a hook in order to succeed. Your hook has to be unique and effective and it has to be yours alone. One thing that is for certain is the concept that before you can even entertain the possibility of selling any product or service, you need to work long and hard on interacting with people and with building strong and meaningful business relationships with your business associates.

Modern marketing

Marketing today is very different than the marketing of the past. In traditional marketing, the company that had the money to buy more leads and potential customers won the business. With online marketing, money is not really relevant. What is relevant is time and effort and forming and maintaining relationships that have trust as a foundation and mutual respect.

There are some types of traditional advertising, types that have been in existence for a very long time, that seem to be fading to the background and there is a good possibility that they may become obsolete in the next several years.

• Newspapers: Newspaper advertising has been a time-honored tradition for so long. It is certainly an institution. More and more businesses are no longer using newspapers to advertise their brand and offerings. The idea that a business would have to spend many thousands of dollars on one advertisement that will only appear for one day seems absurd when compared with online advertising.
   
• Local radio: Radio stations, per se, will not disappear. However, the small, local radio stations are struggling more and more to stay afloat. The concept of a local radio station selling a 30- or 60-second advertising spot to a business and that the business must run the spot for 6 months in order to see any positive results seems kind of crazy. Radio advertising is short-term advertising. Considering the extreme effectiveness of online advertising, radio advertising really can’t compare. The reason that inbound marketing is so effective compared with traditional advertising is that with inbound marketing, people can’t do anything to block your advertising methods. In fact, they make conscious decisions to opt in. With traditional advertising, people have gotten very clever. They can block ads at will.
   
• The Yellow Pages: The Yellow Pages is no longer an effective form of advertising, in many cases. Many people receive the Yellow Pages and never give it a second look. Maybe they use it to even out the table legs or the stick it on the bookshelf and it quickly gathers dust. Why would people use the Yellow Pages when it is much faster and easier to search online for the same information? And the print online is so much larger!
   
• Direct mail: Direct mailings find their way into the garbage much more readily than anywhere else in a person’s home. Direct mail is expensive and often, people don’t pay any attention to it.
   
• Home shows: You pay a great deal for a home show. After your business has shelled out so much money, you don’t generally get a good return on investment. Home shows are not all that convenient. Many people prefer to find out about new products, services, etc, online than having to pay an entrance fee to the home show and walk around aimlessly for hours.

Conclusion

As sad as it is to think about, some forms of traditional advertising are truly becoming obsolete. That is not to say that all forms of traditional advertising are dying or that they are not very valuable. In fact, online advertising works most effectively when it is paired with traditional advertising. Online advertising enhances your offerings very effectively and traditional advertising enhances your offerings in other ways. As a business owner, you should not forsake one form of advertising for the other. You should use them for your business as complements of each other.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team.

You might also like:

1. The Impact of Social Media on Advertising
2. Successful Marketing Messages for Your Business
3. Cold Calling Redefined by Social Media