Google alerts have the ability to inform you about any topic you are interested in a matter of seconds. They are useful for planning marketing trends and strategies. This tool allows you to track of different subjects, products and stories. Simply create an account and choose the keywords relevant to your subject, and have the alerts emailed to you. It is possible to
Google alerts allow you to keep tabs on the online reputation of your company as well as your own online reputation. Monitoring your personal and business name will provide you with the opportunity to make necessary changes that will draw in new customers. You can also keep track of your domain name. This way you will know who is linking to your domain and why. To track your domain name, you do not need to add the www at the beginning, but be sure to add the .com, .org etc. The same rule works for keeping an eye on your blog, if you have one. Monitoring your blog will let you know who is reading or sharing it, which will give you an idea of your target market.
Google alerts will also email you if someone is linked to any of the articles you have online. These alerts will show you who your audience is so that you can create effective marketing strategies for your demographic. Your target audience and niche market has a number of keywords associated with them, so discover what they are. Monitor these keywords to discover new trends and changes in the market. This will keep you aware of new products and allow you to develop the ideas and promotions that are necessary to give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Along with keeping track of your own presence online and the developing trends in your market, Google alerts are a great way to keep track of the competition. Use them to monitors the news, biographies and websites of your competitors. Keep an eye on any changes in their products or ideas. Monitoring the competition is an effective way to stay informed about the industry in general.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Why Your Facebook Marketing Strategy Isn't Working
The popularity of social networking makes advertising on Facebook a logical marketing strategy. It can compliment traditional marketing strategies and allow you to find new clients in your target area. However, many people make critical errors when they first use Facebook to market their businesses, which will limit the effectiveness of the marketing technique.
Advertising on Facebook is not free. However, if your have the budget, it is effective. Facebook is not a quick fix. Social networking takes work, and if you begin with unreasonable expectations you are sure to fail before you begin. Make sure that your goals are reasonable and attainable. Each business and user is different. Just because one person on Facebook has 1 million fans, there is no guarantee that yours will.
There is a risk of marketing a new venture on the social networking site. Specifically, any failures that the venture experience occur in a public setting, which will deter future clients. Using Facebook as a marketing strategy can only work if it is allowed to grow at its own pace. Use natural ideas to build an audience. The further that the ideas develop, the greater potential there is for expanding the audience. Facebook is able to connect with a great percentage of your audience quickly.
In order to reach your target audience it is important to understand who they are. This will help keep you from overestimating your audience. Once you know who your audience is, you will need to create a message that speaks to your audience. The message that your audience receives is an essential marketing strategy. Take the time to understand your audience and appreciate your core customers. This will allow you to frame a message that will draw supporters beyond your first supporters.
Marketing through Facebook requires time, energy and dedication. It will give back what you put into it. Over time, it is possible to grow a large audience base. There is no easy marketing strategy, and understanding your audience will keep you from creating unrealistic goals, which is the greatest mistake that people who market on Facebook typically make.
Advertising on Facebook is not free. However, if your have the budget, it is effective. Facebook is not a quick fix. Social networking takes work, and if you begin with unreasonable expectations you are sure to fail before you begin. Make sure that your goals are reasonable and attainable. Each business and user is different. Just because one person on Facebook has 1 million fans, there is no guarantee that yours will.
There is a risk of marketing a new venture on the social networking site. Specifically, any failures that the venture experience occur in a public setting, which will deter future clients. Using Facebook as a marketing strategy can only work if it is allowed to grow at its own pace. Use natural ideas to build an audience. The further that the ideas develop, the greater potential there is for expanding the audience. Facebook is able to connect with a great percentage of your audience quickly.
In order to reach your target audience it is important to understand who they are. This will help keep you from overestimating your audience. Once you know who your audience is, you will need to create a message that speaks to your audience. The message that your audience receives is an essential marketing strategy. Take the time to understand your audience and appreciate your core customers. This will allow you to frame a message that will draw supporters beyond your first supporters.
Marketing through Facebook requires time, energy and dedication. It will give back what you put into it. Over time, it is possible to grow a large audience base. There is no easy marketing strategy, and understanding your audience will keep you from creating unrealistic goals, which is the greatest mistake that people who market on Facebook typically make.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Get Involved in Social Media Marketing Before You Need It
Most online marketing campaign strategies such as SEO and PPC, and especially email marketing, are utilized at specific points in time for specific purposes, and often have measurable results with a relatively short period of time.
Social media, on the other hand, is a very different beast, which is why many are still wary of it or unable to understand how it might be beneficial. Additionally, the ROI may be somewhat difficult to determine for quite some time. However, if done effectively, social media marketing has the potential to be an extremely powerful online marketing tool.
The trick is investing in social media before it may be absolutely necessary to do so. Creating profiles on various social media sites and taking the time to build a following will ensure that you have a captive target market when you are in fact ready to promote or market something specific.
Posting press releases or promotional messages will garner little results if you don't already have a strong following. Begin by posting informative or entertaining content that your target market will find interesting. Do so on a consistent basis, and soon you'll find that your followers will grow on a continual basis as your content is shared. Then, you'll be able to recognize a huge ROI as you command a much larger and influential reach amongst various social media communities.
Social media, on the other hand, is a very different beast, which is why many are still wary of it or unable to understand how it might be beneficial. Additionally, the ROI may be somewhat difficult to determine for quite some time. However, if done effectively, social media marketing has the potential to be an extremely powerful online marketing tool.
The trick is investing in social media before it may be absolutely necessary to do so. Creating profiles on various social media sites and taking the time to build a following will ensure that you have a captive target market when you are in fact ready to promote or market something specific.
Posting press releases or promotional messages will garner little results if you don't already have a strong following. Begin by posting informative or entertaining content that your target market will find interesting. Do so on a consistent basis, and soon you'll find that your followers will grow on a continual basis as your content is shared. Then, you'll be able to recognize a huge ROI as you command a much larger and influential reach amongst various social media communities.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Four Important Factors To Increase Blog Traffic
Sometimes, when attempting to attract more visitors to a blog, bloggers and online marketers tend to overlook simple factors and considerations and instead focus on more advanced online marketing techniques. This is all well and good, but possibly unnecessary. Online marketing methods such as SEO, PPC, backlinks, etc., mean very little if the content of the blog isn't informative and engaging. Even if you succeed in getting visistors to your blog, the appearance of the blog or boring, uninspired, or confusing headlines may quickly make them leave.
Focus on Captivating Headlines
Your content may in fact be great, but a bland headline won't let visitors know that. Clue them in as soon as they visit your blog as to the main idea of each article that is presented to them. Try to capture their attention by letting them know why the information contained in the article is important for them to read, or how it can benefit them. If you can work in a few SEO keywords, even better.
Avoid Rambling
The great thing about blogs is they give us the opportunity to write as little or as much as we want. But not all blogs benefit from long posts. When attempting to market to consumers or other businesses, it's best to keep your content strictly to the point, providing only the necessary, critical information. If you tend to go on rambling a bit or being repetitive, consumers, and especially those in B2B, will start to lose interest in the content. Keeping your posts self-contained will keep the information fresh.
Graphics: Yes or No?
There's nothing wrong with using pictures and graphics, provided they are relevant to the blog post. Try not to clutter up the page, don't overdo it, and be careful about the sizing. Unless you are displaying artwork or photographs, you don't need graphics that consume the entire page and force visitors to scroll past them in order to locate the remainder of the article.
Using Visitors to Get the Word Out
Satisfied visitors are your best means of getting the word out about your blog and attracting new visitors, so long as you make it easy for them to do so. Most blogs allow you to integrate "sharing" buttons for each blog post or on the sidebar of the blog, as well as RSS feeds. These buttons allow visitors to instantly share your blog post on social networking sites such as Twitter, Digg, Facebook, and many others with just the click of a mouse. This type of online marketing exposure is invaluable and should definitely be utilized.
Be a Fan of AWG on Facebook >>
Join our network on LinkedIn >>
Follow us on Twitter! >>
Focus on Captivating Headlines
Your content may in fact be great, but a bland headline won't let visitors know that. Clue them in as soon as they visit your blog as to the main idea of each article that is presented to them. Try to capture their attention by letting them know why the information contained in the article is important for them to read, or how it can benefit them. If you can work in a few SEO keywords, even better.
Avoid Rambling
The great thing about blogs is they give us the opportunity to write as little or as much as we want. But not all blogs benefit from long posts. When attempting to market to consumers or other businesses, it's best to keep your content strictly to the point, providing only the necessary, critical information. If you tend to go on rambling a bit or being repetitive, consumers, and especially those in B2B, will start to lose interest in the content. Keeping your posts self-contained will keep the information fresh.
Graphics: Yes or No?
There's nothing wrong with using pictures and graphics, provided they are relevant to the blog post. Try not to clutter up the page, don't overdo it, and be careful about the sizing. Unless you are displaying artwork or photographs, you don't need graphics that consume the entire page and force visitors to scroll past them in order to locate the remainder of the article.
Using Visitors to Get the Word Out
Satisfied visitors are your best means of getting the word out about your blog and attracting new visitors, so long as you make it easy for them to do so. Most blogs allow you to integrate "sharing" buttons for each blog post or on the sidebar of the blog, as well as RSS feeds. These buttons allow visitors to instantly share your blog post on social networking sites such as Twitter, Digg, Facebook, and many others with just the click of a mouse. This type of online marketing exposure is invaluable and should definitely be utilized.
Be a Fan of AWG on Facebook >>
Join our network on LinkedIn >>
Follow us on Twitter! >>
Friday, September 3, 2010
Is Your Social Media Marketing Campaign Illegal?
It was reported a few days ago that the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK is gearing up to crack down on social media marketing campaigns that do not adhere to a set of guidelines.
Beginning March 1, 2011, the ASA will attempt to effectively police all social media marketing on major networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Marketers utilizing these networks for unpaid advertising and promotion may be found in violation of the code of standards involving misleading advertisements and social responsibility.
Business that are found to be in non-compliance may have their ads forcibly removed. According to IFA Life founder Philip Calvert, social media sites should be used strictly for networking, not marketing, as using it for marketing is a waste of time. He states that, “IFAs should use social media to network, listen to consumers, add value, share news and expertise and to build a digital reputation.”
Obviously, the numerous studies touting the effectiveness of marketing and advertising on these sites have escaped his attention. Should we in the United States be wary of some sort of similar action in the future? Will our own social media marketing campaigns fall victim to such a ruling?
And what would such a ruling mean for individuals who use the networks for both networking and promoting their own products or services, such as a book they've written or jewelry they've made? Will they receive warning notices as well?
The whole concept seems ridiculously absurd and extremely difficult to enforce with any degree of fairness and efficiency. What do you think?
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