All posts in Marketing

Effective Uses of Social Media Marketing

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With the correct approach and networking knowledge, social media marketing is a valuable form of advertising for all businesses.

In the current technology-heavy era, social media marketing has morphed into an important outlet for businesses of all kinds. While some use social networks to spread word of a company, others see it as an important way to interact with customers. Social media outlets allow for something completely new and effective: interactive advertising.

Facebook has become one of the most popular channels of social media marketing. Musicians use the website to promote new albums and present music videos. Movies Facebook pages display release dates and post trailers. Stores and shopping malls post the latest sales and merchandise.

The most successful businesses receive heavy interaction with users “liking” pages and posts, as well as commenting on walls. More Cupcakes, for example, takes a unique approach to enhancing user interaction through social media marketing. To engage customers, More, a gourmet cupcake shop, posts weekly photos of different flavors of cupcakes. Fans of the More page then tag themselves in the picture and those who tag themselves, up to 50 per photograph, receive the cupcake free when they visit the Chicago shop. This marketing approach, not only brings traffic to Mores Facebook page, but it also drives customers into the store itself.

Another trendy outlet of social media marketing has become Twitter over the past few years. The current fast-paced society values short, concise information, which is what Twitter offers to its users. Businesses must communicate a message in 140 characters or less. Although it can be difficult to remain direct and to the point, clients and customers are able to make it through the end of short tweets before a phone ring or new email creates a distraction.

JetBlue Airways knows that, when it comes to social media marketing, the most important people to clients are themselves. This knowledge is what makes the company successful in the Twitter world. JetBlue tweets about the airlines latest deals and discounts, something that will benefit all of its flying followers. The business, which currently has over 1.6 million followers, also posts a variety of travel tips to help users deal with stressful airports and flights. In addition to tweeting useful information, JetBlue excels in customer interaction by frequently responding to other Twitter users.

Aimed at individuals more than large corporations, LinkedIn also offers networking through social media marketing. The site resembles an interactive phonebook, providing the opportunity to reconnect with old colleagues and get in touch with new connections in the users industries. LinkedIn works well for those who wish to display personal websites and resumes as well as recommending other clients and employees.

Myspace, a form of social media marketing that was replaced by Facebook years ago, is starting to make a comeback. The websites new look makes it more user-friendly and visually appealing than it once was. The outlet has now taken on the entertainment industry, focusing mostly on music, movies, TV and celebrities. Myspaces roller coaster of success and failure shows how important it is for businesses to keep up to date with the most current forms of social media marketing, an industry thats constantly changing.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) An Introductory Guide

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Social media marketing has largely replaced the idea of more traditional marketing practices like billboards and advertisements in the yellow pages. If you have an Internet connection, youve probably already experienced at least some form of marketing via a social platform. And, if you run a business, its a smart idea to learn how you can make SMM work for you.
What Is Social Media Marketing? More likely than not, you’ve been exposed to this form of marketing already. It’s the most recent strategy employed by businesses to reach their target audiences, and it involves using websites like Facebook and Twitter (in addition to your company website) to reach new customers, actively engage existing customers, and develop an online presence. All of this can help your business grow and expand.
Why Do I Need One More Advertising Gimmick? This isnt just about advertising; its about connecting with your customers in a way thats never been possible before. Businesses are already providing fresh content through their blogs and websites that keeps customers interested and coming back for more. By then promoting that content through social media sites, customers can easily share this information with friends, essentially promoting your business for you with very little extra effort on your part.
Immediate Feedback Of course there is a risk involved as well; developing a fully public presence that allows for uncensored comments from your customer base to be posted, both positive and negative, can feel very vulnerable at first. Its important to remember that the negative feedback is happening either way, however, if its on a social media site, youll have the opportunity to address concerns immediately and change those perceptions before they expand. This kind of immediacy has never before been possible in the business relationship, and those companies who already employ such strategies are being met with resounding approval from their customer base.
Easy Promotional Tools Interacting with customers is not just about handling customer feedback. It also offers a free way to promote special offers, distribute coupon codes, or hold contests. In fact, the more regularly your social media site is used for these purposes, the more fans are likely to maintain their connection. After all, who doesnt want a deal for free once in a while?
New Ways to Reach an Audience This is the age of technology, and social media is available to users across many devices. Many people have direct access to their favorite platforms through their mobile phones, tablet computers and a host of other gadgets. As an advertiser, this gives you access to your customers regardless of where they are or the technology they use.
Marketing Vs Advertising In the age of social media, marketing is not just about advertising anymore, its about participation and interaction. This new marketing is less about finding target audiences, and more about encouraging a natural dialog within those audiences. In the end, it accomplishes three things:
Cultivates a community which revolves around your business
Builds relationships with new and existing customers
Promotes image branding and builds an Internet presence
A Final Word Tomorrow’s successful companies are those that today realize social media marketing is not a passing trend; its the new face of advertising and business. The public’s expectations have changed, and the old ways of reaching out just aren’t as effective anymore, or acceptable. The public doesn’t want to be communicated to; it wants to be communicated with. And businesses that are not willing to engage socially with customers will lose them to businesses that are engaging.

Digital Marketing Strategies That Can Grow Your Business

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Taking your business digital is the need of the hour today and developing a digital marketing strategy is even more essential. Digital marketing seems like the best way to stay ahead in the race, especially because your potential customers and your competition is already online. Here are some basic digital marketing strategies to follow which will be instrumental in helping your business to grow.
Set a Goal
Whether you are looking to acquire more customers, to increase your visibility online or to stay ahead of your competition, either way, it helps to define your goals. Having a preset goal in your mind increases your chances of success and chalks out a path for you to follow. If you jump onto the digital marketing blindly, without setting goals for your business to achieve, you will be left confused. Having a goal gives you something to focus on.
Create a Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel refers to the process of mapping out the journey of a customer from when they start off as a complete stranger to when they convert to a lead, and then assign strategies into place that will lead them effectively through this funnel of conversion. Some of the most successful businesses have marketing funnels in place to boost their digital marketing efforts. The different components of a marketing funnel are calls to action, lead magnets, offers and opt-ins.
Create an Effective Call-To-Action
A call-to-action is a an text or an image that encourages a user to perform a particle action, like view a webinar, subscribe to a newsletter, sign up to receive a product demo etc. effective CTAs lead users to landing pages where they can feed in their contact information in exchange for a marketing offer that they find valuable. When a CTA is effective, it will result in more conversions and leads for your website. The process of lead generation is illustrated to this journey from the click of a CTA to a landing page. Your digital marketing strategy and digital properties should be rife with appropriate and effective CTAs in order to increase visitor-to-lead conversion opportunities. These CTAs need to be evenly distributed and optimized. They should grab a users attention and lead them into your marketing funnel.
Create an Effective Lead Magnet
Your lead magnet can be used in tandem with your CTA or as a stand-alone product. It could be used within your marketing funnel or as a way to drive customers into your marketing funnel. While driving your potential customer into your marketing funnel, you can use your offers as a means of gathering more information about them. When you supply your potential customer with something of value, it makes them more likely to convert into a lead who will spend time and money interacting with your business. The main aim of a lead magnet is the trade of information. It could be in the form of a free download or a discount on a product in exchange for information about them.

Learning From Rolex’s Example How To Market Luxury Goods

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Authenticity and Essentialism are Innate Desires
The world is filled with duplicity. Knock-off has become a term that means the same, but different in terms of quality and price. By nature humans want to be original since every human is an original creation that can not be duplicated in terms of thoughts, beliefs, and energy.

Consumers want to buy original products that present an image of uniqueness as well as quality and value and theres no better example than Rolex watches when it comes to proving that humans innately want to express their own quality, value, and uniqueness through the goods and services they purchase.

Rolex Watches entered the world of Horology in 1905 when Alfred James Davis and Hans Wilhelm Wilsdorf founded Wilsdorf and Davis Ltd. Wilsdorf created three watches that passed rigorous accuracy tests before the company was formed so it was a natural step to start a watch company with his English partner Davis who was his brother-in-law. The company became a family affair and they registered the name Rolex in Switzerland in 1908 even though that name had no real meaning other than it was easy to spell, easy to say in various languages, and easy to remember in all of them.

In 1915 the company was officially renamed the Rolex Watch Company and it finally became Rolex SA which is the driving force behind today’s successful marketing program.

By 1945 Rolex Had Established Its Manufacturing Prowess
During the 1920s and 1930s Rolex carved a luxury name for itself by receiving several awards for precision and quality from four renowned observatories: Geneva, Kew, Besancon and Neuchatel. A chain of internal events took place before the Second World War and they also had a significant impact on the evolution of luxury Rolex Watches.

The famous Crown or Coronet logo was trademarked in 1925 and the name Rolex began to appear on the dial in 1926. The company also changed the design of its case and began using hermetically sealed cases designed by the Swiss craftsman Francis Baumgartner. These new cases made Rolex Watches almost waterproof.

Wilsdorf also bought the patent for a new moisture-proof winding system in 1926, and that addition produced the Oyster, which was the first watch with a waterproof case. The oyster was worn by an English swimmer who swam the English Channel in 1927, and the impetus from that marketing campaign set the stage for future luxury marketing tactics.

Rolex watches were marketed and advertised as wonder watches. The company made improvements in the Oyster which increased its status. It was the first watch to be called waterproof at 100 feet under water. That feat made it a watch rock star almost overnight.

The pricey Prince was introduced in 1928 and it is still a popular style today for men who want to express their innate uniqueness and material success. New adjustable six position balances were also introduced in 1928 and in 1932 the company introduced the self-winding feature. In 1935 the Super Balance was introduced to improve the design of its Auto Rotor.

In 1935 Rolex acquired the exclusive rights to Aeglers movements and that was a strategic move that allowed the company to focus on the US market. In 1937 Rolex introduced the first chronograph wristwatch. British pilots wore the Rolex Oyster during the war to signify their excellence and success. After the war the company gave every British prisoner of war a new Rolex since they lost their originals to their captors. Those replacement watches didnt have to be paid for until after the war and that move turned out to be an incredible marketing tool.

Rolex Still Sets a High Marketing Bar
Rolex is still launching new watches and unique marketing campaigns that emphasize quality, prestige, and individuality. The company produces over 2,000 watches a day and is ranked in the top 100 global companies by Business Week Magazine. It holds the top spot for among all watch makers in terms of product recognition, perceived quality, and creative design features and functions.

Tradition meets innovation and Rolex uses that philosophy to create a luxury watch marketing campaign that continues to break price barriers. Their marketing campaign is rooted in authenticity and essentialism as well as the rich heritage of quality timepiece manufacturing.

Defining Digital Marketing Agency

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If you need to augment your business, then you should hire a digital marketing agency as it can greatly help you to grow it. Those are bygone days, when advertisers only have to look towards outbound marketing methods that include radio, television, banners, hoardings, flyers, etc. to promote businesses. Nowadays in the world of the computers and internet technology, inbound marketing has become an important factor to market products and services.

Keeping in view of the fact people at present use their web resources to shop, gather information, sell, and to do a lot more, hiring the services of a digital marketing agency has become a need.

The work of a digital marketing agency includes SEO (Search engine optimization), PPC (Pay per click advertising), SEM (Search engine marketing), SMO (Social media optimization), SMM (Social media marketing), ORM (Online reputation management), Email marketing, just to name a few. But the most important ones are SEO, SMO, and PPC. Let’s throw some light on them one by one.

Search engine optimization

It is the method to augment the website’s ranking as well as visibility over search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. Broadly it is categorized into on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO comprise the practice of optimizing on-page elements such as meta title, meta descriptions, etc. and also includes technical SEO that comprises the activity of increasing page load speed, finding and rectifying site errors like 404 page error, etc., uploading sitemap and robots.txt file, canonical tags, redirects, and more. Further off-page SEO includes submission of content (which has been written around your relevant keywords) such as articles, blogs, directories, classifieds, and more.

Make sure your content should be of high quality and original seeing that search engines will favor content that is most relevant to the user’s query and which provides some value to the user.

Pay per click Marketing

It is an eminent method of digital advertising and producing traffic to a site. The fundamental theory is that the advertiser has his ad showed on sites or Google and pays the owner of the site or Google (advertisement’s publisher) only when a user clicks on his advertisement. That click will land the user to the advertiser’s website.

Social media optimization

It is the method of creating, managing, and optimizing of social media accounts. Seeing that millions of people are now on social media, this is a wonderful platform to increase your brand awareness and making it common among people. Generate user engagement and search engines will come consider it as social signals and increase the rankings of your website over them.