Archive for the ‘facebook’ tag
A New Year Guide to Launching Your First Online Marketing Campaign
With the New Year upon us, many businesses – especially brand new small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – may well be looking at the whole concept of online marketing for the first time. Although they may already have an online presence such as a website or a profile on a social network such as Facebook, this is far short of the massive potential for new business and increased profits that the world of internet marketing can offer. Here, then, is a guide to getting the New Year off to a flying start with a basic plan for an initial online marketing campaign:
- Consider Your Goals. A business owner needs to work out exactly what an online marketing campaign is intended to achieve. These goals are often the same as a traditional marketing campaign’s – generating new leads, increasing your revenue stream and boosting customer service.
- Draw up a rounded strategy. Planning is essential for the success of any campaign, from the business to the military! Good online marketing companies will discuss what resources and tactics are available, and which fit your business model and will help you to achieve your goals. Make use of them.
- Learn on the job. Don’t just leave it to the professionals – learn the basics involved in internet marketing yourself, so you are better placed to track the success of the campaign and offer suggestions. One move might be to learn the rudiments of blogging, or social media such as Facebook and Twitter in order to make a personal contribution.
- Draw up measurable objectives. Without proper benchmarks for success, you won’t know whether your campaign is working, or working to its full potential. A few benchmarks for success, such as a set number of new customers registered online over a period of time, or new followers on your Facebook fan page will help you and your online marketing consultants to tweak the campaign to make it even more effective.
- Ensure you have a realistic budget. Although resources will never be infinite, sadly, it is worth making a sufficient investment to fund an effective online marketing campaign and to hire a competitively-priced company. There will also be ongoing costs associated with websites, for example, such as keeping content properly updated, upgrading the site’s features as new technology (such as flash animations) comes into play, and routine, day-today site maintenance.
More Online Marketing Trends for 2012
photo credit: thomaswanhoff
Online marketing will continue to evolve in 2012 – that is the one thing that all commentators can agree on. The sector is still busily growing, and such a technology-driven sector cannot help but change pretty fast, considering the ongoing innovations in IT and media.
While the general thrust of marketing strategies remains the same as it ever has, internet marketing is different because it marries tried and tested attitudes to marketing and advertising with the frantic world of online technology, and all the constant upgrades and developments that it entails.
This means that next year will inevitably see new online marketing techniques emerge and a new focus on existing methods.
One such technique which has already mushroomed in importance in 2011 is mobile optimised merchandising, thanks to the vast increase in the number of consumers with smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. This trend is only set to continue and accelerate next year, and so the online marketing team that ensure their company’s or clients’ websites are optimised for use by these devices will be able to hit the ground running on New Year’s Day. Another wise move by any online marketing enterprise wishing to take advantage of the mobile devices revolution is to sell clients subscription services where appropriate, whereby customers can subscribe to a regular newsletter, special offers, vouchers – or whatever best suits their business.
We all know that regularly updated site content – especially on blogs – is essential when it comes to maintaining your position in the search rankings, but fewer companies are yet aware of the vast potential for consumer interest in the field of video content, although online marketing experts have been pushing video content for several years now. Next year video content is set to greatly increase its internet marketing potential, as more and more people watch online videos via their tablets or smartphones. When videos combine product information with genuine entertainment, then their power to attract new customers and strengthen relationships with existing ones is incalculable. With social media sites such as Facebook and Google+ making it easier to embed video than ever before, 2012 will really be the year that video goes viral!
Social Media’s Future Stance
With the way our current social media is diluted with various websites that are geared towards making friends and meeting up with old ones, it is hard to say if Facebook will really end up being the champion in the end. Not since the Google explosion has the there been an Internet trend that is so widespread in its popularity. The comparison with the Google growth is in fact one that is made by many industry observers, and while there are a number of clear similarities, there are also some important differences that can easily be seen through this mess of internet growth.
It is expected that by early 2014, all the various social media sites will have more than 1 billion members. That number is predicted to grow until somthing new comes out with a leveling off on the number of new members expected by 2015. The combined revenue from these sites, which in 2011 reached almost $2.5 billion, is estimated to balloon to a whopping $10 billion by the end of 2012.
The overall membership numbers in social media sites varies greatly from area to area. The country of Asia accounts for the lion’s share of users, with 35% of the total users expected by the end of 2012. EMEA accounts for about 28% of all users, North America follows closely with 25% percent, and the Caribbean and Latin America trails behind with 12% of all users. With the inevitable crowding of the social media site industry, many observers feel that consolidation of the market is a sure thing. This has given rise to some predictions that the smaller individual social media sites will be swallowed up by the bigger players in the field. Some experts feel however that this is not necessarily the case. In particular, social media sites with a focus on special interests are expected to survive the trend towards consolidation.
All of this massive hype and wonder perhaps is what inspires the comparison to the Google boom, but in the midst of all the buzz, there is a certain degree of trepidation felt by many as well. While many investors are naturally excited about the potential of social media sites, the fact that these types of web sites have not been proven for the long term is causing some hesitation. The promise of riding on the wave of the next big Internet phenomenon is a tempting prospect, but it is tempered by the uncertainty of social media sites as a long term sustainable industry. The most cautious industry observers have even gone so far as to suggest that most social media sites would do well to hold off on an IPO for the time being and see what shares start off the bidding should Facebook or even Twitter go the IPO route.
Have no fear, future start-up dreamer: the future of social media is just as bright as ever and at this relatively early stage of the game, considering that many social media sites seem to be going up and offering interesting features, such as Pinterest. What companies and investors should do however is to adapt their approach to be prepared for the changes that will inevitably come in the future and even involve daily business within the mix of social media.
About The Author
Greg Henderson, a California-based businessman with over 11 years in SEO/SEM, provided this piece based on personal endeavors and education in search engine optimization with a concentration on content optimization for the social media future. His current projects include a Public Records site PublicRecordSources.com, and a background check site SnoopStation.com.
Online Marketing New Year’s Resolutions
photo credit: Sirsnapsalot
With out Christmas List to Santa safely in the post, let’s take a look ahead to 2012, with a couple of New Year’s resolutions aimed at ensuring online marketing success over the next 12 months:
Improving your online marketing profile via social media has to be a big component of the New Year – if not the biggest. Get those fan pages up and running on Facebook and your account ready to roll on Twitter, along with messages urging customers to “Like” or “Follow” your brand.
Try to look up customers who were once frequent sights on your email listings but who have gone quiet in 2011. Many may be pleased to hear from you and as long as you are not seen to be pestering them, re-engagement efforts can improve your internet marketing successes.
As with all New Year’s resolutions, too many will cause you to lose your focus and willpower – so just bear these in mind for now, and OMD will keep suggesting other routes to online marketing success during the Christmas period – and beyond!
Company Sites Outstrip Facebook and Twitter for Online Marketing
photo credit: Sean MacEntee
A recent study revealed that the primary online marketing portal for businesses remains their corporate or company website, despite the rise of internet marketing campaigns on social media.
The survey, by tech firm Demandbase and the Focus business network found that only personal referrals and recommendations from satisfied customers trump online marketing initiatives based on company websites when it comes to producing sales. Researchers found that such sites were seven times as effective at generating leads as social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
Furthermore, almost 25 per cent of respondents admitted the most sales leads came from their website, followed by 14 per cent who selected email marketing campaigns. Online advertising came next, and social media scooped only 3 per cent of respondents’ recommendations.
Demandbase chief executive Chris Golec commented: “Despite its increasing influence, it’s important to keep in mind that no business sale is made without the buyer going to the corporate website first.”
Is Facebook Killing Websites?
photo credit: Asthma Helper
In the last 18 months there has been a huge surge in both the popularity and reach of social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and now Google+. So how do businesses go about marketing a commercial website when everyone is spending all their time on social sites? Some businesses have taken themselves lock, stock and barrel over to Facebook in order to ride this social media wave.
But while social media channels are a perfect source of web traffic because they allow a high level of targeted marketing, a good business website is still an essential part of online marketing. A customer that finds you on Twitter, Facebook and suchlike will invariably expect to find a smart-looking website showcasing your products and services in all their pixelated glory.
SEO is NOT dead, inbound links are still crucial, and on-page SEO can’t be overlooked just because you signed up to every social channel available! Abandoning your website for a social platform may seem savvy in the present social media surge, but remember that ‘your’ Facebook real estate is still owned by someone else.
The key to a successful online marketing campaign is to treat your website as your core online presence, and use social media to promote, sell and communicate with customers. It’s your website and you own it – don’t be afraid to shout it from the heady heights of Twitter Towers and Castle Facebook.
Twitter’s Online Marketing Possibilities Largely Untapped
Virgin Media Business urged retailers and other commercial companies to up their game and focus more online marketing efforts on Twitter.
Research carried out by Virgin found that too many businesses are failing to capitalise on the unique internet advertising potential of micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, and their close relatives – social networks such as Facebook. According to researchers, just 9 per cent of firms used Twitter for online marketing and only a third used social media.
“Since its founding, Twitter has changed the way we shop and engage with brands and, as such, has become a fantastic tool for customer engagement,” Virgin Media Business customer service director Phil Stewart commented.
The Centre for Retail Research director Joshua Bamfield admitted that “it is probably true that the smaller stores have not got on this bandwagon yet,” but added that this “may simply reflect the fact that they’re very busy, they don’t have the skills and they don’t see why they should bother.”
Sales figures seem to show, however, that those who do “bother” will ultimately reap the online marketing rewards.
