In an article published by Alison Diana of Informationweek.com, the majority of consumers want to interact with businesses via social media outlets. However, less than one-third of companies actually have any type of social media strategy in place. Thus, we have a problem. So, then why aren’t businesses picking up on their consumers’ desire to connect?
This information on the many missed opportunities to use social media in business comes from a recent report put forth by Siemens Enterprise Communications in conjunction with leading research firm, Yankee Group. In the study, results showed that the average customer satisfaction with current business interactions via social media was just 65 percent while one third of businesses do not allow the use of social media at work or aren’t aware of their company’s participation in social networking.
Tsk. Tsk.
Overlooking social networking or merely passing social media off as a “waste of time” or boiling it down to goofing off on Facebook or Twitter is hardly the case. If used properly, social media can draw in tons of traffic to a website or help put a business that would have otherwise been an ‘unknown’ on the map for the first time.
All you have to do to see social media in action with a business is look at the recent ad campaign put forth by Old Spice. Old Spice found a clever and creative way to employ the use of several top social networking site: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (all user-generated) in order to strengthen their brand. Some may view Twitter as pointless, but when you look at what Old Spice did with their Twitter page, they actually took the time to interact with their followers. It was the perfect example of listening to the consumer and then responding (in real time) to their demand.
Selected highlights from the study
70 percent of consumers want access to company experts and support via social media channels and trust company information provided to them via their social networks.
Nearly 60 percent of customers feel company outreach via social media would improve their loyalty to that company.
Most customers feel that companies should be monitoring social media for customer feedback.
50 percent of respondents use social media daily or several times a day.
Nearly 70 percent of employees feel they need better tools to track and manage social media for business, and would like the ability to initiate a Web conference automatically from a chat discussion at work, inviting people from within their social and work networks.
To read more about the study, click here. In the meantime, consider what sorts of social media practices your business is employing at the moment. What could you be doing better? What sorts of demands do your customers/clients want? Perhaps the most important thing to consider is the power that social media has to leverage your business above the competition. Never underestimate this!
**Note: This is a guest post written by one of our readers, Ben Johnson. For more information on how to submit a guest post, please send an email to janelle [dot] vadnais [at] gmail [dot] com or see our guidelines for guest posting.
If you own a business, but don’t own a business logo, then you are not doing justice. This is such a powerful tool that giant corporations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for a high quality and memorable logo design.
Budget Problem, No Problem:
Now, this clearly shows that this design is extremely important, but you may not have thousands of dollars for a logo. Don’t worry…Big businesses have all the extra cash to waste, whereas small business owners can get one at a fraction of the cost without even compromising on quality.
So, having said that, let’s now dig deeper and explore why you must create a logo design for your business.
Give Something to Your Market to Visualize Your Business:
Your logo is not a small piece of design; it is in fact your business identity. It helps you stand-out from the competition. Thus, without a logo, you won’t be able to create a unique business image.
If, in a store, you see many products by several manufacturers that you have never tried before, then it’s the quality of the logo that will enable you to determine the quality of a particular product. Without a logo, there won’t be any visualization and, thus, you won’t get any recognition. In order to grow your business, it is crucial that you give your business an impressive face with an impressive logo design.
Make Your Online Marketing Campaigns Effective:
If you use social networking sites, then your logo can help you a lot. Your logo design in your profile will help you promote your business and win the trust of your market. Let’s say you don’t have a logo right now. If you add friends and grow your network, it won’t help your business in any way, because you won’t be promoting your business. The only way of promoting your business will be through the links that you will post and it may even get you labeled as a spammer in the long run.
Having a logo design will prevent you from spamming as people will see your logo and learn about your business. If your network will trust you, then they will trust your business as well and would love to learn more about it. So, build your credibility by communicating with your network and build your business image with a high quality logo design.
Make Your Offline Marketing Campaigns Effective:
Distributing brochures and giving away complimentary items are some great ways of promoting your business offline. However, you won’t get any recognition if your brochure or products won’t have your logo imprinted on them. Other than recognition, a top-notch logo will also help you win the trust of your market.
When your target market will look at your complimentary products (with your logo) again and again, they will automatically begin to trust you (Hey, after all, they are already using your product in the form of a mug, pen, T-shirt or any other complimentary product).
So, folks, you need a logo design to give your business an identity and make your marketing campaigns effective.
In today’s tough competition, you can get a top quality logo, designed by a professional designer, at a very low price. So, you too can now create your brand identity effectively.
About the author Ben Johnson is Alliance Manager at Logoinn, a custom logo design & website design company. He writes about the effect of design on marketing and brand identity and helps small businesses find design solutions for effective marketing& branding
There are so many great videos out there that offer tons of information that could potentially help each of us in our business endeavors. However, when it comes to actually getting around to watching them, who really has the time? In the following, brief video, Erica Douglass of erica.biz shows you how download videos and speed them up in order to save time. The only tools you will need are FREE, and these include:
There are more entrepreneurs out there than ever before- people who are finally getting the opportunity to start that “dream business” that they always wanted. That being said, if you are in the business of starting your own company from the ground up, take the following five marketing tactics into consideration:
5 Tips to Get Your Small Business Noticed:
The Web- Let’s face it; the Internet is where it’s at these days, and people won’t believe that you’re legit if you don’t come up with a professional looking website to showcase just how great your services and/or products are. For this reason alone, it is definitely worth it to invest some time and money into hiring someone (if you don’t already possess the expertise) who knows a thing or two about SEO and web design. This can prove invaluable to you as you launch your business down the line.
Content is Still King- You don’t have to look hard or far to find websites that are lacking in followers. You have to give people a reason to come back for more. Therefore, when you create a website, also invest some time to create content that is both thought-provoking and most of all- provides useful information to your particular audience.
Go Viral- When words fail you, or when you want to change things up a bit, going viral never hurts. However, just make sure that whatever video you post (whether it is user-created or borrowed from elsewhere) is useful to your viewers and pertinent to the theme of your website.
Provide Solutions- People aren’t stupid. They can tell when you are talking in circles without saying much. Instead, consumers of your product or service want to see solutions or tangible ideas that demonstrate how your business can be of use to them. The best way to incorporate this? Talk to them! There are tons of social media sites and tools out there that can help you get started with this.
Keep up With the Market- Equally as important to maintaining a well-run website is keeping up with what the industry is doing. Know what the key search word terms are for your business and keep an eye on what your competitors are doing at all times, this way you can maintain an edge over the competition.
Ah, the infamous “self pic” that we so often come across whenever we visit one of our friends’ profiles on Facebook. Maybe we have even taken part in the epidemic that seems to have been sweeping the country ever since digital cameras suddenly turned us into professional photographers. But on a slightly different note, the picture or pictures that you use to represent you on various social networking forums can reveal a plethora of information to your readers, followers, customers, friends and family as to the kind of person you are as well as the kind of information that your profile might denote.
The Twitter Dilemma:
Regarding the use of pictures, Twitter is a great example of how we do or do not use our photographing skills effectively. For instance, I will often receive an email notification that “Person X is now following you on Twitter”. However, if I see that Person X does not have a profile picture, then I usually don’t even go any further to add them to my followers list. Instead, they are instantly referred to my trash folder. Another situation that is often faced on Twitter is when someone uses their real name (or what appears to be a real name), but then their profile picture is a logo for a business or something that is totally unrelated and/or offensive. In this case, it is then your call as to whether or not they are “follow” worthy.
Choosing the Right Picture:
You wouldn’t think that there would be so much thought that goes into the picture that you choose to represent yourself, but if you are a business owner and you have an online presence, even your personal social networking accounts might come under some scrutiny. Take care to only put up pictures of yourself and/or your company that are relevant (i.e. no drunken pictures of you at last year’s Christmas party, etc.). Choose a picture that is clear, not taken with your camera phone or a two-year old and is somewhat flattering to your appearance. If you cannot seem to find any pictures that describe the aforementioned, then it may be worth it to hire a professional photographer to take your photo. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, and on the Internet…that’s a lot.
When it comes to surfing the web during your downtime at work or simply because you’re bored, there are many of us who turn to a popular Internet community called StumbleUpon. At StumbleUpon, users get to join a free community of other individuals who love to surf the web and discover new and interesting things, but could StumbleUpon prove to be more than just a device to squelch boredom? I think so.
Surf, Browse, Discover:
Then you do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself around….eh- nevermind. StumbleUpon was originally developed back in 2001 by Geoff Smith and was subsequently released for a variety of browsers (most recently, Google Chrome). And while it may seem somewhat childish and stupid to those who don’t understand its power, it is in fact, a great tool for discovering new and interesting things. Users can discover, browse and rate anything that’s on the Internet from web pages, photos videos and blog posts, etc. The cool thing is that it is totally user based as sites are essentially promoted to other users by way of sharing web pages and ranking a web page with a written review and/or a ”thumbs up” or “thumbs down”.
So, Why Join SU?
Not every web guru believes in the power of StumbleUpon, and for some, it may not even seem like a viable option given the industry that they are in. However, it can be an extremely powerful tool when used efficiently and correctly. The key is to not promote your own stuff by “thumbing up” all of your web pages. In fact, doing so can get you booted out of the community because, let’s face it, no one likes someone who does nothing but talk about themselves! Consider it for your future web endeavors however; and make the most of your web surfing experience.
For many of us, once we get a job, we hang on to it as long as we can. Especially during these trying economic times where job scarcity is in abundance, we are usually willing to go above and beyond the call of duty for a little financial security. But what if your boss decides to expand business by opening up another office elsewhere..(say, on the other side of the country) and put you in charge?
When my father worked for Avis, he was not only offered a cushy promotion, but he was also offered full relocation services that included having his vehicle(s) shipped with a car shipping company, a reputable home movers company and other miscellaneous expenses- ALL PAID FOR. At the time, the move was only from New York to New Jersey, but it was a move nonetheless. He didn’t want to uproot the family, but he also didn’t want to leave his job either.
He wound up deciding to do a double residency by living in New Jersey during the workweek and then coming home on the weekends. It wasn’t long before it became too much, however. He wound up bowing out of Avis and then pursuing his law career full speed ahead. In the end, it worked out for the better.
There are numerous cases similar to my father’s in which families, couples and even young, single professionals have to decide what the pros and cons are of moving with a company. There are many factors to consider, and after you get past the headache of figuring out what car shipping and moving companies you’re going to use as well as all of the things that you’ll have to sort through in your home before you pack, you have to consider your surroundings. Are you close to your family? Will the relocation be to a place that puts you closer or further away from family members? What is the climate like where you are going? What is there to do in the area?
So, if the opportunity ever arises where your boss sits you down and asks you to step up to the plate, what will your answer be?
Where many online businesses make their money is often from the banner ads that they have so proudly displayed along the sides of their web pages. However, how much is too much?
Not Always the Bread and Butter of Your Business:
Isn’t wasn’t that long ago (maybe five minutes perhaps) that I was surfing the Internet and came across a website in which the content was actually quite good. However, I was extremely distracted by all of the banner advertising that was displayed on the landing page. Across the top, along the sides, down at the bottom…I felt as if I was being surrounded by banner ads.
It made me feel kind of webpage-a-phobic. Eventually, I grew annoyed enough and left the website simply because it was too distracting. I’m not the only one who follows this natural progression, however. There are countless others who find banner ads to be incredibly distracting, and it seems as if some website owners don’t realize exactly how distracting it can be. So, if this is the case, then why do so many Internet marketers insist on the banner ads?
In 2007, Dave Morgan published an article called Outing the Heavy Clickers in which he described the behavior behind those people who actually clicked on banner ads and other types of PPC-related items:
While focusing on clicks makes a lot of sense in search advertising, since the audience has already been highly qualified by their search term and is “hand-raising” — announcing their interest in a particular product or service or activity — it is logical to focus on a click as a very good proxy for the generation of a qualified lead. It makes sense. It works. The market loves it; Google will do more than $10 billion in revenue selling clicks this year. No further discussion needed, right? Not the case when it comes to display ads delivered on Web pages containing content or applications, where the audience is not in an active search- and-buy mode. [source]
In the end, Morgan denounced banner advertising, explaining that most people do not click on ads; therefore, banner advertising is not necessarily an accurate representation of the number of people who will actually be the ones who eventually use your product or service. My advice? Lose some of the advertising on your landing page, and keep it simple.
Have you ever visited someone’s website and walked away from your computer with a raging headache? Did you even stay on their landing page long enough for a headache to set in? While some of us lack the ability to design a catchy website, some of us love to experiment with things that we think our visitors will love….or so we think. However, being a little too creative can sometimes come with a hefty price in the form of a loss in your return on investment (ROI).
Do the Research:
If art class wasn’t your strongest point back in high school or if you are simply unsure as to what would translate well, color-wise, onto a web page, then it doesn’t hurt to do a little research and/or simply hire someone who is knowledgeable in the field of web design. If you do go the route of having a web designer help you with the construction of your website, don’t be afraid to ask questions about color schemes. After all, it doesn’t hurt to learn a thing or two, and it may even help you in the future if you ever decide to do an ad campaign or something else of the sort.
Advertising and Color Psychology
It’s no coincidence that McDonald’s is known for it’s golden arches or that children’s books are usually decorated in bright colors. In fact, most market research is done well before we are even aware of it in order to come to the conclusion as to what types of colors will have various effects on us. Therefore, depending on the particular industry that you are in, you may want to research color schemes a bit more as its effect among different cultures/audiences varies from niche to niche.
