Four Strategies for Increasing Your Advertising Effectiveness by: blog-editor2, February 15, 2011 1. Filling The Need You can debate the exact amount of white space you should have in ads and the perfect percentage of keyword density for SEO until you are blue in the face, but if your product or service is not perceived as filling an urgent and essential need, then you cannot complain about poor advertising effectiveness. Don’t just sell the features and tell prospects how your product or service works. Make sure you are promoting the real benefits for your prospective customers, the ones that are most important to them. For example, a toll free number is not just a way for your customers to reach you by phone or only a critical part of your branding. Toll free numbers have not only been proven to improve advertising effectiveness in terms of response rates but also through double digit increases in closing ratios and actual revenues. 2. Personalization Both individual and corporate consumers are becoming more demanding than ever about the products and services they choose to acquire. They want to be made to feel special and that you care about their needs, and they often will only jump on those offerings that appear to be made just for them. This case is true whether it is a new smartphone, a marketing program, or a mobile app. So consider how you can improve advertising effectiveness or add options to your products that will give that personalized "created just for me" feel. You can also achieve this customer connection by improving on tracking and the flow of your system that will present visitors to your mobile and web presence with exactly what they are looking for and need. Or perhaps you should be creating multiple mini-sites complete with their own branding and vanity numbers to target specific niches in your industry. 3. Integration In several ways, integration applies to increased advertising effectiveness. First, consumers and prospects are surrounded by so many channels these days that it is essential to keep in front of them wherever they are in order to keep your hold on your market share. No longer are consumers just bombarded by billboards, telemarketers, and TV ads. They are now permanently plugged into the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites whether it is on the computer at work, in their cars, or via their smartphones at every other moment of the day and night. Make sure you are in front of them wherever you can be as often as you can, keeping your service fresh in their minds and making it easy for them to acquire your products and services. However, integration is now also playing an extremely important role in the form of Facebook "likes." Getting your products and business "liked" means being able to tap into the sphere of influence and social network that each of your customers has with an extremely powerful word of mouth referral, so make sure to integrate social media with the rest of your business every step of the way. 4. Make It A "No Brainer" To Do Business With You Online One major factor that has many business owners stumped at just how poorly their online advertising is performing is that they fail to recognize just how different it is doing business via the Internet than face to face. In the past, your sales team may have done great moving high end products with almost no effort at all. However, in many cases you cannot expect to charge the same premiums to complete strangers who are finding you on the web for the first time without making a solid effort to demonstrate your credibility through strong branding. You will also find your advertising effectiveness dramatically improves by offering trials or other incentives to get prospects to realize just how great your company is. Make it impossible for them to say no! Read More
Seven Marketing Trends to Watch in 2011 by: blog-editor2, February 7, 2011 1. Mobile Marketing Many have dubbed 2011 as the "Year of Mobile Marketing." As marketers, coaches, and ad agencies push more clients into mobile marketing as the "must have" tool for the year, we will see a massive rush to develop new apps. Just make sure yours is designed to keep up with the future and offers social media marketing integration. 2. Group Buying Group buying is back in a big way. In addition to Mercedes-Benz, social media marketing giant Facebook has even moved into the realm of group buying and will certainly be attempting to grow the applications further this year. 3. The eBook Rush We will see more and more books being released over the next year as a new wave of entrepreneurs turn their hands to authoring. However, we will also see a completely new breed of ebook developed offering interactive features. 4. Twitter We will see an even wider use of Twitter in 2011 and more TV personalities using their positions to gain more followers. However, we are also likely to see more countries seeking to block Twitter in an effort to avoid civil uprising and organized coup attempts. 5. Permission Marketing For many, permission marketing is the only way to do business already. However, this year we will see a widening gap between the success of those who are using permission marketing and those who simply continue to try and force their messages into the faces of those who really are not interested in seeing any more spam. 6. Affiliate Marketing Evolution We will no doubt see a further clearing out of junk affiliate marketing programs this year, although at the same time will be an increase in quality partner programs and cross-promotion between complementary and quality companies and services. 7. The Social Media Marketing Monetization Manager Thousands of new enterprises have spent the last year expanding their social media marketing and focusing on developing masses of followers and fans. This year we will see more companies hiring "Social Media Monetization Managers" to turn those outlets and prospect bases into real profits. Read More
Five Ways to Make the Most of Your Social Media Marketing This Year by: blog-editor2, February 1, 2011 1. Improve Your Product Funnel Instead of relying on your various social media marketing profiles as totally independent avenues, strive to build a better funnel that pulls all of your online marketing together, allowing each level to do its job while improving your ROI and conversion ratios. Tie together your social media marketing pages, blog, website, and email marketing campaigns to capture more prospects, close deals, and maximize the potential profit from each one. 2. Include Your Vanity Number Differentiate yourself from all of the small unprofessional fish out there and make sure to include your toll free vanity number on all of your social media marketing fan pages as well, and of course, on your blog and your communications with prospects. A catchy vanity number alone may be the closing factor you have been missing to make prospects take the action you want. 3. Work Smarter Not Harder It can sometimes seem overwhelming to produce enough content to keep all of your social media marketing channels updated or to expand into more to improve SEO and attract more traffic. However, if you create high quality original content that can be repurposed for your various forms of social media marketing, you can still reap the rewards of a bigger presence on the web while maximizing your budget. For example, commission quality articles that can then be turned into blogs, Tweets, YouTube videos, and social media marketing posts. 4. Explore Group Buying Opportunities Group buying is about to explode in a big way. It is already the only way many people shop online in China for everything from diapers to houses. Social media marketing giant Facebook has just rolled out its own experiment in group buying for members. Mercedes Benz even discovered its power by using group buying to move over 200 cars in a few hours. So why not explore the potential for your company to benefit from group power whether it is moving your own products or acquiring the things your organization needs? 5. Creating Mobile Apps Or Social Media Games It is no secret that social media marketing games have emerged as one of the biggest moneymakers in the last couple of years with a monstrous return on investment. Mobile marketing is also an exploding trend that opens the door to thousands and millions of new prospects. So why not explore the opportunity for capitalizing on these trends ahead of your direct competitors? Read More
How To Hire The Right Business Marketing Consultant by: blog-editor2, January 31, 2011 Whether you are an entrepreneur just starting up a new venture or your enterprise is already bringing in seven figures, a great business marketing consultant can help you stay ahead of the pack, help you surpass your goal, and enable your organization to realize its full potential. So how do you find the right business marketing consultant? If you are looking to expand and improve your advertising effectiveness, then you need to look at how potential business marketing consultants market themselves. You should be looking for someone who is utilizing the latest Internet and social media marketing tools and techniques so he can help you harness their power too. Don’t forget to look at the basics. When choosing a business marketing consultant to work with, take a look at how the person has succeeded in business, whether he or she has created other successful businesses, and to what entrepreneurial and business associations he or she belongs. Also many of the best business marketing consultants will have authored books and have become in-demand speakers. While there may be many to choose from, it is also important to look for a business marketing consultant who shares some of the same ideals, style, and goals you have or desire. For example, if your ultimate goal is to build a successful business that still allows you to enjoy plenty of free time and the freedom to travel whenever you want, then employing a business marketing consultant who complains that she is constantly stuck behind her desk around the clock seven days a week may not be the right move for you. The most successful athletes, generals, and business owners in the world and throughout history have all had great coaches in one form or another. So if you have been looking for an edge that will really take your company to the next level this year, perhaps a great business marketing consultant is the missing ingredient. Image Credit: © Ilya Lobanov | Dreamstime.com Read More
Five Reasons You Shouldn’t Be Doing Business Without A Toll Free Number by: blog-editor2, January 26, 2011 1. Branding Toll free vanity numbers are a critical part of any successful brand. An easy to memorize vanity number not only can unify your branding and make you easier to contact, but it is essential for those who really aspire to become long-term fixtures in their industries. If one of your business goals is to become a leader in your field, then you must have a vanity number. 2. Advertising Effectiveness Whether you are a new start up, a large corporation, or a non-profit organization, toll free numbers have been proven to increase dramatically response rates to advertising. Isn’t it worth a few dollars a month for a winning toll free number that will increase the responses from your advertising by double digits? That could be the difference in only getting a handful of leads or getting several hundred from the same marketing campaign! 3. Better Closing Ratios Getting lots of leads is great, but unless they become closed deals, they are just burning up your resources. Toll free numbers offer superior brand recognition and credibility and have been shown to increase closing ratios significantly. So if it is closed deals and actual revenues you want, and not just inquiries, then don’t even think about launching your next advertising campaign without a toll free number. 4. Enhanced BPM In the last few years, toll free numbers have actually emerged as one of the most powerful tools for aiding more efficient business process management. Utilizing the latest toll free routing options, businesses can now offer increased service coverage and have staff working around the clock in every time zone at very affordable rates while streamlining their processes. 5. Business Continuity One of the biggest buzz topics of the last couple years – "business continuity" – is not to be overlooked. Toll free numbers actually provide the most effective and affordable tools for business continuity in order to protect revenues, gain customer retention, and ensure your company does not miss a beat even in the face of natural disasters and terrorist threats. Read More
Direct Marketing – Testing For Effective Mail and Email Campaigns by: blog-editor2, January 21, 2011 Despite all the new forms of Internet marketing and the plethora of social media networks that have sprouted up in the last couple of years, direct marketing through direct mail and email marketing still remains one of the most effective advertising channels for businesses of all sizes. However, that does not mean that rushing and just sending out any direct mail or email campaigns is going to guarantee your success, achieve maximum advertising effectiveness, and result in the best ROI for your marketing budget. Throwing all of your resources into one large campaign that flops can not only stall your operation and income but could even cripple your organization. Fortunately, by using web analytics and blocks of toll free numbers, you can perform affordable tests quickly in order to hone your direct marketing campaigns and maximize your marketing ROI. By acquiring blocks of toll free numbers, you can use different numbers in a split test campaign to improve the various factors that determine optimal advertising effectiveness, such as your lead and data lists, the copy of your direct marketing pieces, email subject lines, mail packaging, and the timing of your delivery. Some marketers see testing as something that slows them down. However, testing means you can still get out a partial campaign and receive leads now while you will get a lot bigger return for your money when you go all out. Just look at the difference in not only leads but in actual dollars that a great direct marketing campaign offers. For both mail and email direct marketing campaigns, the response rates can range from less than 1 percent on the low end to over 10 percent for those who have honed and tested. Good campaigns will also yield higher closing ratios. So on the same 10,000 piece campaign, without testing you may end up with 100 responses and one closed deal, while those you have tested could be looking at over 1,000 responses and as many as 250 new deals. Which results do you want for your money? Image Credit: © Kotist | Dreamstime.com Read More
Five Common Advertising Strategy Mistakes To Avoid by: blog-editor2, January 20, 2011 1. Not Developing a Brand It doesn’t matter how creative and ingenious your advertising strategy is if you have not made the effort to develop a unified brand. Proper branding includes having a matching business name, web domain name, logo, and an easily recognizable and memorable vanity number. Don’t just have them either; make sure you use them! 2. Failure To Test Whether your advertising strategy includes direct mail, telemarketing, or Internet marketing, those who do not test and ignore their metrics are asking for failure. You may need to temper the figures with a little common sense and insight into future trends, but the numbers do not lie. Use blocks of toll free numbers for split testing various elements of your campaigns and hone them. 3. Not Maximizing ROI Many marketing channels and ideas that you can include in your overall advertising strategy may work, may generate leads, and may even bring in money. However, just generating some income is no longer enough to survive. You must strive to seek out those channels that provide maximum advertising effectiveness and the highest possible ROI for your marketing budget. 4. Working Harder Rather Than Smarter Too many entrepreneurs and managers fail to harness the power of building blocks that can be re-purposed. This strategy means having to do a fraction of the work for much larger results; not only can it improve your advertising strategy profit margins, but it can enable your organization to reach more prospects for less money and grow faster than you ever imagined. This process can mean utilizing content more wisely and re-purposing article content for blogs, videos, and social media, or outsourcing your call center agents and using them to spin off new products and services. 5. Not Seeing The Full Potential "If you are going to think, you might as well think big." Thinking big certainly doesn’t take any more effort. However, too many business owners and managers still fail to see the full potential of their businesses. With a little wider vision applied to an advertising strategy, and just a little more effort, the exponential rewards can make all the difference in being a one man band or the next Facebook. Read More
Why You Should Not Create Your Own Advertising Strategy by: blog-editor2, January 17, 2011 Business columns and business coaches often dedicate much of their time to telling entrepreneurs and business owners that they must be revolutionary in their advertising strategy and be unique if they want to win. However, the reality is that as an entrepreneur or marketing executive, achieving a successful advertising strategy can often be a difficult tightrope walk between doing what is working for others and offering a unique proposition. There are two problems with developing your own advertising strategy from scratch. First, it can mean ignoring the facts and figures and the tried and true methods that are working in the current market. Choosing just to learn from your own mistakes rather than others is costly and can result in losing any lead time you had on your competitors. Secondly, creating an advertising strategy that is too far away from the norm can be confusing to prospects and consumers, not only reducing your advertising effectiveness and the ROI of your marketing budget but alienating many viable customers. In order to develop a truly successful advertising strategy, you really should take the best of both worlds. If a certain marketing strategy, channel, or platform is proving to be incredibly profitable in your industry, you shouldn’t ignore it. Consumers will be looking for some of the similar attributes in order to find your product or service and judge it’s value and credibility. However, at the same time you need to be different enough from your competition to differentiate enterprise and stand out from the crowd. The perfect example is books. While self-publishing is becoming more popular than ever and has turned out many of the best sellers in the last couple of years, it remains an independent way to produce books; nevertheless, authors can definitely benefit from promoting their books on reputable sites like Amazon or by using Facebook likes and a familiar blog or website format for promoting it. What will you take from the proven and comfortable way of doing business in your industry and what will you do differently to develop the ultimate advertising strategy? Image Credit: © Ali Mazraie shadi | Dreamstime.com Read More
Five Ways This Year To Maximize Your ROI With Toll Free Numbers by: blog-editor2, January 13, 2011 1. Get A Premium Vanity Number Maximize all of your advertising effectiveness this year by getting a premium vanity number for your business. Toll free numbers can make a direct and dramatic improvement on your response rates and conversion ratios as well as helping to improve retention and limiting charge-backs. 2. Shared Usage For those wanting to harness the power of your industry’s best toll free numbers, taking advantage of shared usage can mean all the benefits and power of a world class business phone number while maximizing your ROI. Shared usage for toll free numbers means a fraction of the expense while competing alongside the top players in your field and enjoying maximum exposure. 3. Testing Acquiring blocks of toll free numbers will enable you to test all of your marketing channels and hone them for maximizing your marketing ROI. Not only is improving your profit margins and getting the most out of your marketing budget great for your own wallet, but it will ensure your business makes it through these tough times, allow you to take advantage of new opportunities, and will help you emerge as a leader when the economy picks up. 4. Streamline Your Operations Take advantage of the best toll free number routing options to streamline your organization and reduce overhead. In the new global economy, trends and business models are changing dramatically. Don’t get left behind. Optimize your call centers, use office space smarter, and tap into the best talent pools through outsourcing. 5. Join An Affiliate Marketing Program Toll free numbers may be one of the best tools you can use for your business in many ways, and they are more in demand than ever. So why not tap into this market and create a profitable new revenue stream by partnering with a toll free service provider through an affiliate program? Read More
Definition of Advertising by: blog-editor2, January 10, 2011 “Advertising” is usually confused with marketing, promotions, sales, and public relations. But what exactly is it? Basically, advertising is about bringing a product or service to target market's attention. It is focused on getting customers' attention in order to increase awareness of the brand (or product, service, or idea) in question. Advertising comes in different forms: brochures, television commercials, online ads, signs, direct mails, and even personal contact. To get a better understanding of what is advertising, it may be best to look into the definition of other terms with which it is usually interchanged: Promotion: After gaining brand awareness through advertising, promotion acts as a stimulus for further demand. It involves ongoing advertising, sales, and public relations activities. Marketing: When you think about marketing, keep the 4P’s in mind: product, place, promotions, and price. These are essentially all the aspects involved in marketing. Loosely, marketing involves analyzing customer data and competition. It positions the product in the market through “price” and “place” distribution. Public Relations: Public Relations is all about creating a public image for the company. It usually involves building a relationship with the media to get newspaper mention, magazine recommendations, and television slots. Sales: Cultivating prospective buyers (referred to as leads) is the focus of sales. It conveys the features and benefits of a product and service. The sales plan for one product may be different from another even within the same company. Read More
