Archive for November, 2008

Use Holiday Cards to Market Your Business

By | November 25, 2008 | Offline Marketing | 3 Comments

dsc_0354Personal connections with your customers can be one of the most positive ways to build business relationships and drive sales. While these connections are made throughout the year, the holiday season offers one of the best times to reach out to your customers and prospect base. Regardless of your approach, this can help bring back customers over the upcoming year and cement long term business relationships.

Getting Personal

Sending a personal, customized holiday card to each and every one of your prospects and customers is one of the simplest and most effective networking strategies for the holiday season. To make a strong impression on your recipients, stay away from basic cards which can be purchased at your local drug store. Instead, holiday cards that are customized with your company’s logo, name and even photo on the front of the card will have more of an impact and reinforce your brand.

A personalized greeting on the inside of the card, as opposed to the standard “happy holidays”, is also a great way to make more of a personal connection with your customers and prospects. Stories about your family or a funny yet tasteful quote can make your holiday card even more memorable during the season. In order to maximize on the exposure of your company, use matching return address labels, gift tags, gift stickers, holiday brochures and thank you notes with your company name and logo.

The Season of Giving

Another way to capture the attention of your customers is by sending them a charity holiday card, where a portion of proceeds from that line of cards will go to a specific charity. Numerous charities offer special cards around the holiday season and current and future customers will like seeing that you support appropriate charitable organizations. Use a well known organization that your customers will recognize or one that is close to your heart as a way to support them during the season of giving. Regardless of the choice, a charitable contribution is always appreciated over the holidays.

High-Impact Promotions

The timing of your holiday mailing will gain the attention of your customers, but a special holiday sale or promotion will help to drive sales. Even regular, high-quality post card mailings with your offer can be very successful. During the holiday season, where mailboxes are often flooded with promotional mailings, make sure your postcard stands out by using vertical ones instead of the usual horizontal. Full color photos of your business, products or images relating to your promotion will also catch the attention of your audience and a glossy finish will give it a professional look.

Always Say Thank You

Sending your customers a thank you note is the final step to ensuring that your holiday season was successful. Hand written thank you notes make an impact on customers because they show you go the extra mile. Customers purchasing large orders should always receive thank you notes and be sure to thank those who refer new customers to your business. This will show how much you appreciate their business, resulting in a tremendously loyal customer base.

If you follow these steps for holiday networking, this is bound to be one of your best holiday seasons yet. And the best part, the relationships you build this holiday season will surely carry over to the rest of the year.

Happy Holidays!

Going Viral: The Easy Way to Spread Your Marketing Message

By | November 24, 2008 | Online Marketing | No comments

Discover the power of viral marketing and what it can do for your small business. Topics include; what is viral marketing and why it works, the four simple rules for a successful campaign, the importance of good content, generating a buzz, and promoting your campaign.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0LBOKDmAjc]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8i1PP8FbAA]

Search Marketing 101: Chris’ Favorite Links

By | November 21, 2008 | Search Engine Marketing | No comments

kenney-head-shotWelcome to the fifth installment of Search Marketing 101 (if you have missed any of the previous sessions, please visit Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & Part 4). Today I will discuss some of my favorite SEM links, they keep me up to date on all the interesting things in the world of search.  I will also break down what each one is and why it could be useful for you.

Search Engine Blogs

Inside AdWords

Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog

Microsoft  adCenter

These three blogs are all run by their respective search engine and gives you all the inside info on console changes, new products & beta’s as well as tips to improve performance.  This is something that is definitely worth checking in weekly.

SEOMoz

This site gathers a group of ‘SEO Experts’ and gives users tips on how to make your site more spider friendly and also gives you tips on how to build the best links.  It is loaded with content, quick tutorials, and daily tips.

DMNews

The search section of DM News is a valuable spot to get information from search professionals in all areas of marketing.  It is updated with multiple posts daily and covers a wide spectrum of search from paid to organic.

Occam’s Razor

Google’s analytics evangelist Avinash Kaushik has this blog about web analytics.  Many believe that it is the best site out there for web analytics.  He tackles all the top issues and questions from readers.  Not to mention he is an excellent presenter!  He wore the book, “Web Analytics, in an Hour a Day,” which is a great read, plus he donates all the proceeds from that book to charity.

Search Marketing 101: Budgeting

By | November 20, 2008 | Search Engine Marketing | No comments

kenney-head-shotWelcome to the fourth installment of Search Marketing 101 (if you have missed the previous installments please visit Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3). Today we will go over budgeting for your SEM campaigns.

Budgeting is right behind testing and analyzing in terms of importance when it comes to paid search campaigns.  Make sure you set daily budgets to prevent a certain campaign from spending too much.  You will lose impressions by setting a low daily budget but you will not run into any invoice surprises.  These can often discourage or even outright kill a small businesses desire to stay in the space.  Start out slow, and work your way up as you get your feet wet.  Depending on your industry clicks can range anywhere from a few cents to as high as $10 plus dollars.   A daily budget should range according to your average cost-per-click.

Other ways to limit daily spend are Day Parting, or having your ads show only during select times of the day.  We talked about Geo-Targeting, which can save you money by being targeted, and always turn off Content Networks.  Unless you are solely trying to brand your product or service, turn off the content networks!  Most campaigns when created will have content turned on as a default.  Make sure it is turned off.  Content networks are expanded areas of reach that the search engines are able to show your ads.  They are shown on blogs, emails, web pages, etc. and are supposed to be shown when there is related content to your keywords on the page. The main difference between search and content ads is, a user is looking for your product/service when clicking a search ad.  They are more qualified because they are looking for you.  When using a content ad it is like you are searching for them.

Check back tomorrow for the fifth installment of Search Marketing 101.

Using Signage for your business

By | November 19, 2008 | Offline Marketing | No comments

dsc_0354When thinking about small business marketing, the standard means of promotion such as newspaper ads and postcard mailings most often come to mind.  While these “tried and true” methods can be effective, they are not the most cost efficient for a business just getting off the ground.  Local newspaper ads don’t draw very much attention for the size and it is difficult to stand out.   Filming a television ad can be very costly, and a poorly made one can make your business appear unprofessional.  Small businesses need to immediately gain visibility and build brand recognition in the minds of consumers, but how?  This can be achieved in an easy and rapid way:  through the use of effective signage.  By putting a company name, logo, and contact information on things like window decals, car door magnets, and lawn signs customers are quickly introduced to your business for a very small investment.  But how and where you use these various products is paramount to success. Read more…

Utilizing postcards to help your business

By | November 18, 2008 | Offline Marketing | No comments

One of the oldest utensils in a marketer’s toolbox is direct mail. It gets your message directly in the hands of your existing customers as well as potential clients in your local area – a common staple of this medium is the postcard. They are also extremely effective and stand out within a pile of mail.

One way to use postcard is to add coupons that help drive traffic to your business.

One way to use postcard is to add coupons that help drive traffic to your business.

A quick scan through the mail I received yesterday included postcards from Kay Jewelers, Bed Bath & Beyond, Jiffy Lube and a local pizzeria. All of these companies have seen success from sending out postcards to their customer base. I for one pondered holiday gift ideas from both retailers and hung the Jiffy Lube coupon on my fridge for my next oil change. The pizzeria’s is on hand for halftime of Sunday’s 1:00 games.

Your business can achieve similar success by planning a postcard campaign that ties into a sale, promotion or event that you have planned. They can also be made into a coupon that has to be returned for redemption. This can be extremely beneficial when tracking the results of the campaign.

If you are looking for some ideas of where to start or some tips from experts, check out these articles from the following authors: Duct Tape Marketing‘s Karen Saunders;  VistaPrint Europe’s President Janet Holian; and Entrepreneur’s Sean Lyden.

Have you had success marketing with postcards?

Connect With Your Customer: Easy, Affordable Website Solutions

By | November 17, 2008 | Online Marketing | No comments

This Webinar will discuss how crucial a website is for your business – no matter how small. Topics include:

1.) Why a website is an effective marketing tool

2.) How a website allows you to better serve your customers

3.) The importance of website branding and content

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR77FkXRI1M]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej79PHocWhg]

Search Marketing 101: Tracking and Targeting

By | November 13, 2008 | Search Engine Marketing | 1 Comment

kenney-head-shotWelcome back to the third installment of Search Marketing 101 (if you have missed the previous installments please visit Part 1 & Part 2). Today we will go over the basics of tracking and targeting your ads.

Whether it’s in house reporting or an analytics package offered by the search engine you choose to buy ad words from, you MUST track everything.  Tracking results provides you all the insight to accurately determine test winners, move bids up and down and add negative keywords.

At the very least you should get conversion tracking (a service that is offered by Google, Yahoo and MSN).  If you cannot track the performance of your search engine marketing efforts and assign a value to it, there is no reason to start in the first place.  There is also a lot of value to Geo-Targeting, specifically for small regional businesses that might only be interested in reaching a specific geography. Read more…

Creating an Impactful Brochure

By | November 12, 2008 | Offline Marketing | No comments

brochure1dsc_0414Hard as they might try, small business professionals can only be in one place at a time but company brochures can be many places at once to influence potential and existing customers. A brochure represents your organization when you can’t be there and can be crucial to the success of your company. An effective brochure clearly and succinctly outlines what a company is all about and what it has to offer.

There are however a few key elements that make a brochure effective:

  • A Good Headline is Key – The headline on the front of your brochure should always list the interests and perceived problems of your targeted audience, and be followed by the solutions you can provide. Many small business professionals mistakenly lead with their company’s basic information but it’s imperative to capture your audience’s attention to ensure they will take the time to read the rest of the brochure. Why bother taking the time to create a great brochure if your audience only reads the front and then discards it? Read more…

Thanksgiving Cards?

By | November 10, 2008 | Micro Business Issues | No comments

thanksgiving-card

You might be interested to know that last season, during the holiday rush, the second most searched term on the home page was “Thanksgiving Cards.” This brings up an interesting question – should businesses send out holiday cards that are Thanksgiving themed, rather than the typical holiday cards during the late December season? There are a number of reasons to consider doing something “outside the box” and trying this out. There are a number of reasons, as Shannon McLoone points out today on the Washington Post small business blog.

The first is that by doing so you might stand out from the clutter of the holiday season, the second is that Thanksgiving says “thank you” in the minds of many patrons, so it’s a good opportunity for a small business to show thanks and solidify themselves as a vendor of choice in the coming year.

Have you sent Thanksgiving cards, and have you found them effective?

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