Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts

The 10 Things You Need To Know In Advertising Today

Good morning. Get your week off to a flying start by getting up to date with all the important
advertising stories.

1. Coca-Cola has become the first major World Cup sponsor to publicly criticize FIFA over the handling of its corruption investigation into the winning bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. The drinks company said the current situation — which has seen the report's author accuse FIFA of misrepresenting his findings — "disappointing."

2. Google has revealed how it plans to use the new huge Times Square billboard as it becomes the mega screen's inaugural advertiser today. Passers-by will be able to use an app to create their own mini Android characters to play with on the screen.

3. Apple finally confirmed late last week that its iAd advertising platform is venturing into programmatic for the first time, via a post on its news site. Business Insider had broken the news that Rubicon Project was to be one of iAd's automated partners last week.

4. Snapchat has rolled out a second new ad format, AdAge reports. Samsung became the first to sponsor an "Our Story" feed, which works a bit like Twitter hashtags around events, during the American Music Awards on Sunday.
Read more »
Labels: ,

The Difference Between Advertising and Marketing

Advertising, and marketing; two terms that are somehow interchangeable for most people outside of the two industries (and sadly, inside as well).

It’s easy to understand why people who don’t work in these fields confuse the two terms. TVs and movies often use the two to mean the same thing. “I’m in marketing,” says the advertising executive. Or, “I’m in advertising,” announces the marketing manager.

There are specific differences that make the two disciplines different from each other, and similarities that lead to the confusion. Let’s take a look at them.

What Is Advertising?
Look in any online dictionary and you’ll get a variation of the same definition:

Advertising is “the act or practice of calling public attention to a product or service, usually by paid announcement in newspapers and magazines, and via the Internet, radio, TV, cinema, billboards, bus shelters, and guerrilla placements.”

In short, it’s a memorable announcement about the client’s product or service.


What Is Marketing?
Now, the definition for advertising sounds very similar. But, it’s definitely not advertising. Here’s what most online sources will tell you:

Marketing is “the process by which a company acquires and maintains a relationship with new and existing customer, including strategy, market research, media planning, public relations, advertising, product testing and pricing, packaging, distribution, customer support, sales, and any other method that bring a product or service to market.”
Read more »
Labels: ,

6 Key Shifts in Thinking About Social Media

Do you ever wonder how your fellow marketers and business owners are using social media to grow their business? Whether they are concerned about declining Facebook reach? What platforms and strategies they intend to invest their time in?
Wonder no more. Social Media Examiner has just released its annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report after surveying more than 2,800 marketers.
The one undeniable message from the report is that marketers continue to place high value on social media with 92 percent of marketers (up from 86 percent last year) indicating that social media was important for their business.
The report also revealed a number of shifts in focus, as marketers try to stand out from all the noise to get noticed and get results online.
Here are six key shifts in thinking that are highlighted by this year's industry report:
1. A return to blogging: When asked how they will change their future social-media activities, blogging topped the charts with 68 percent of marketers planning to increase their efforts. Not since 2010 has blogging been the focus for increased activity for marketers, according to the report.
Read more »
Labels: ,

10 Marketing Tricks From the Pros

Marketing is the lifeblood of any startup – without it, the company will be sure to sink. So for entrepreneurs looking to boost their productivity with simple tricks, I set out to find answers.
I recently asked some of the smartest and most experienced marketing people I know for their No. 1 marketing hack. While all provided extremely effective solutions, I was amazed at how simple some of them were.
Here is a list comprised of the top ten, categorized by marketing TK
Social Media
1. Boost your posts. “Give your social media content a boost. Businesses are finding it more and more difficult to get their message heard. By the latest estimates, Facebook is showing only 6 percent of a business' content to their fan base. So give your content a paid boost. If you have more than 100 likes on your page, a 'boost' button will appear at the bottom of each post. Use it. For less than $30, you can get your message out to thousands of unique users.”
-Rob Wellman, CEO of Social5
2. Load up on data, and do it quickly. “Facebook advertising can deliver the cheapest CPM's in online marketing with the ability to test ad efficiency in real-time. Use the power editor "duplicate" tool to create hundreds of ads and change one element per ad. Give these a small budget, and you'll quickly see what works and what doesn't without breaking the bank. Double down on the ones that work, and kill the ones that don't.”
-Kyle Ivins, co-founder Envolve Agency
3. Retweet and engage “Don’t just tweet out stuff about your company. Engage with other companies, your customers and thought leaders in your market. Retweet their tweets and add your thoughts. Respond to tweets that aren’t directed at you and give your thoughts on those. Followers will start flowing your way.”
-Jason Barber, co-founder Friendemic
Advertising
4. Explore pay-per-click advertising. Google isn’t the only show in town when it comes to pay-per-click advertising.
 “Google has the most volume when it comes to their ad network. But they’re far from the only option. Bing provides great results for businesses targeting the baby boomer generation. You can also look into Google Search Partner Networks for other opportunities for higher ROI.”
-Jacob Baadsgaard, CEO Disruptive Advertising
5. One ad per keyword. “If you’re running a campaign with a dozen keywords and only have one ad, then you’re throwing money away. Create specific ad groups that target single keywords. Then create two to three ads for that one keyword. See which ad works best, then run with it.”
-Scott Cohen, CEO of 180Fusion
Public relations
6. Don’t brag, give real value. “The greatest secret in media and public relations right now is that the press (and your potential customers) are most interested in the value added information that will help them succeed in a given area—not in hearing promotional information from you. By thinking of your readers’ needs first—not your own self-interests—you will receive business traction and audience engagement beyond your dreams.”
-Cheryl Snapp Conner, Snapp Conner PR
7. One sentence “Here’s a pro tip that’s extremely obvious, but often completely ignored by entrepreneurs everywhere: You should be able to explain your startup in one sentence. That’s it. No exceptions.”
-Harrison Weber, Journalist and News Editor for VentureBeat
SEO
8. Poach your competitors’ mentions. “Create a Google Alert for your competitors’ brand names. Find out where they are being mentioned and in what context. Then, see if there’s opportunities to be mentioned alongside of them. Many times journalists and editors will write about one brand and be open to including a similar brand for parity.”
-Nathan Tanner, Foxtail Insights
Email marketing
9. Trim your subjects. "Get an immediate lift in email marketing revenue by reducing your subject lines to only one word. Choose that word carefully. It should induce irresistible curiosity, while staying relevant to your message. With the right word, your open rates will skyrocket. Do some testing to really dial it in."
-Tyler Dixon, Marketing Director for SpinGo
Outdoor advertising
10. Think outside the box. “Get creative when working with a budget and with advertisers. A client of mine recently secured a ‘pay for performance’ billboard on one of the busiest stretches of an interstate. They only pay the billboard agency if a sale results from that billboard. You’d be surprised what you can get accomplished if you only ask.”
-Matt Frisbie, CEO of ChiefMO

Labels: ,

The 5 Secrets to a More Readable Website

In my last column, I stressed the importance of producing quality content, but a website packed with amazing content and top search-engine rankings won’t do your business any good if your visitors don’t stick around long enough to read it.
After all, isn’t the purpose of great content to convert visitors into leads and then eventually into sales and revenue?
The majority of website visitors know within the first three to five seconds if they are going to leave right away or stick around for a bit. To make a great first impression, your website needs to look great, be easy to navigate and present its content in a way that is easy to read.
If you provide a great user experience, your website visitors will read your content, share it on social networks, sign up for mailing lists, convert into leads and even make purchases. Here are five tips to help start the process:
1. Focus on evergreen content. Produce content that will still be interesting in the future. Your target audience will continue to be introduced to your content years down the road.
It is also a good idea to go through old pieces of content and refresh them with updated stats and information if needed. If a visitor lands on a piece of content that is outdated or contains old statistics, they will quickly leave.
2. Use formatting that is appealing to the eye. You could have the most informative and compelling content, but if it is formatted poorly, your visitors will skip right over it. Use simple fonts and colors that are easy on the eyes.
Make sure to break your content up into little paragraphs that are easy to digest, and use numbered lists and bullet points to highlight information. You can also use images, charts, graphs and infographics to compliment the text. Extra visual elements do a great job of capturing and holding the attention of your visitors.
3. Simple navigation goes a long way. Let’s not forget what the main goal of your content is: to produce leads, sales and revenue for your business. Assume that every website visitor who comes in contact with your content will be so impressed that they will want to learn more about your business and make a purchase.
You want to make sure that someone reading your content can quickly access your navigation menu and do one of the following with a single click of their mouse: learn more about your business, contact your business or complete a purchase transaction. If they can’t quickly accomplish any of these because of complicated or poorly designed navigation, they will leave and find an easier website to navigate.
4. Mobile-friendly layout. With so many people using the Internet via their smartphones and tablets, it's very important to have a mobile-friendly website. Your visitors will not read your content if they have to zoom in and constantly scroll from side to side to read the text.
Pull out your smartphone, view your website and put yourself in your visitor’s shoes. If the layout isn’t easy to navigate then you need to make some changes. The cost of upgrading to a mobile-friendly design is well worth it.
5. Allow access to your content from every page. Your content is a very important component of your website, so make sure that it is accessible from every single page. If a visitor lands on your homepage, can they quickly identify your blog content? If they land on one piece of content, can they easily access more without looking too hard?
Make your blog accessible through your main menu and also include preview excerpts from the last few posts on every page. Every visitor that lands on your website should be able to identify and access the juicy information with a single click.
Improve the effectiveness of your content by implementing these simple tips. Making it easier for each visitor to read your content will increase your conversions and ultimately your revenue.
Labels: ,

17 Content Pieces You Can Create Without Writing a Single Word

Not a strong writer? Not a problem! Even though “content is king” these days, there are tons of different content pieces that can be created and shared on your company’s website without requiring extensive writing. Here are a few ideas to help get your creative juices flowing:
1. Image gallery: Instead of words, fill your blog posts with pictures. If your blog is personal in nature, create galleries based on your own experiences and observations. If it’s for a business website, try a “behind-the-scenes” gallery or a collection of product-related images.
2. Song round-up: Similarly, create a collection of songs that capture a mood or serve some purpose for your audience. As an example, check out this “21 Great Songs for Grieving” audio round-up on a funeral industry blog.
3. Quote collection: No matter what subject your website covers, there’s a quote (or, better yet, a collection of quotes) out there that will inspire your readers. Search for “[your industry/topic] quotes” and be sure to provide proper attribution to any you wind up using on your site.
4. Link round-up: Curation is an easy way to pack your web properties full of content. In this particular iteration, gather 10 to 20 interesting industry links you’ve encountered online recently and share them with your audience in this easy-to-create format.
5. Video series: Collections of Youtube or Vimeo videos are one final round-up idea that makes it easy to generate web content quickly. For example, if you’re a tech startup, a list of great TED Talks will appeal to readers while saving you time.
6. Audio interview: Creating audio interviews is incredibly easy -- all you need is a free recording program such as Audacity and an expert source to speak with. Ask around to find these authorities. If your website has any level of credibility within your industry, well-known experts may be eager to help you out in exchange for greater exposure.
7. Podcast: On a related note, running your own podcast series gives you an easy way to generate tons of content without the need for writing. If you’re successful, you may even benefit from having your recording featured on podcast websites or at the top of the iTunes listings -- leading to even more press for your company.
8. Video interview: If you have the equipment, the technical know-how and the industry connections, video interviews can be an even more powerful way to create content and capture attention. As an added bonus, having your interview subjects share your recordings with their followers can lead to greater press for your organization. 
9. Video Q&A: Don’t think you need to enlist other participants to create interesting video footage. One simple way to put together website content is to record yourself answering a common question about your product or service, using the camera built in to your smartphone or laptop. With a few quick edits, you’ll have a content piece that provides valuable information without the need for excess writing.
10. Slide deck: The beauty of sharing slide decks as content pieces on your various web properties is that you don’t even have to create them yourself. While doing so might improve your branding efforts, you can easily find interesting presentations on sites such as Slideshare to embed in your own website.
11. Infographic: Got creative skills? Translate your knowledge and the industry stats you’ve accumulated into an engaging infographic image that’s sure to get shared around by members of your target audience.
12. Comic: Alternatively, if you’re a strong illustrator, comics can be another fun way to fill out your content needs while engaging your followers. Just be sure to keep any humor you include appropriate to the expectations of your audience to avoid offending potential customers.
13. Polls and surveys: Not only are polls and surveys easy to create, they can give you tons of valuable insight into your customers, your marketplace and your product. Check out SurveyMonkey’s free version to get started.
14. Re-blogged posts: If you come across an interesting blog post in your industry, reach out to the author to seek permission to re-blog the post on your site. While you’ll need to provide proper attribution, re-blogging is an easy way to add valuable content to your website with minimal effort.
15. Guest post: On another note, if you can’t find good content to re-blog, invite authors to create guests posts to share on your site in exchange for a backlink. To keep Google happy and avoid being classified as a link schemer, only accept high-quality, valuable posts for publication.
16. Customer-generated content: Don’t want to generate your own content? Have your customers do it for you! As an example, try a photo submission contest where users share images of themselves using your product in creative ways.
17. Outsourced written content: Finally, if you don’t want to write content yourself, consider paying somebody else to do it for you. There are plenty of great ghostwriters out there who can help you create everything from blog posts, whitepapers to ebooks and more.
Have another idea that should be added to this list? Share it in the comments section below!
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)