Direct marketing is one of the most effective ways to advertise to your target market. Why? Because it is more intimate and personal – customers will feel special because their individual needs are addressed. Now, direct marketing can come in different forms. But one of its best manifestations is mail and email campaigns because they enable marketers to reach a vast number of individuals with minimum time and effort spent (compared to face to face contact).

Testing remains the best way to find out what works for your company. However, general guidelines need to be followed. The best practices in the direct marketing field include:

Readable Emails– No marketing campaign can be effective if people don’t even know what you’re trying to say. In email marketing, a lot of companies integrate multimedia images and content – but these are not necessarily readable on some computers. Even if you include multimedia content, you should still make it a point to put HTML text content so the recipients will still understand what the email was all about.

Interesting Subject Line– If your company is associated with a certain brand or product, it is best to use that. Around 69 percent of recipients make the choice whether to open their mail or not at first glance. Maximize the success rate of your email campaign; it is critical to ensure that the sender name you use is trustworthy and recognizable.

Personalized Mail and Email– Direct marketing is all about establishing a personal connection. With the email management technologies available today, there is no reason why you cannot personalize emails (by adding the recipient’s name, etc). The process allows your campaign to become even more effective.

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Many companies delude themselves into thinking they are getting “good value” from their current Internet advertising initiatives. But is that really the case? There are many things to look into – the most basic of which is the conversion rate. The conversion is not only translated into actual revenue, but it actually depends on the goal of the website. For example, conversion can come in the form of leads, subscriptions, sales, and even referrals.

Internet advertising is also linked to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. There are three main players in this industry including Google Adwords, Microsoft Ad Center, and Yahoo! Search Marketing. Let’s look deeper into these options below:

Google Adwords – The value of your money depends on the “quality score” of your ad groupings. Since Google is the most dominant search engine among English-speaking countries, ads can gain maximum exposure through this medium. But take note that popular keywords here can cost heaps so choose carefully.

Microsoft Ad Center – This site gets a decent amount of users. Because there is less competition, you can get more targeted clicks from your Internet advertising campaign here. The interface has limited features, but overall, it provides good value for your money.

Yahoo! Search Marketing – Although Yahoo! certainly doesn’t get as much traffic as Google, Internet advertising here can still contribute to your bottom line. The tool provides in-depth keyword reports, but the minimum bid is quite high. Conduct thorough testing first before going full blast with your campaign.

It's a fact: A lot of companies underestimate their customers. And the result? Cheesy online advertising. This result is problematic for both parties. On the part of the advertiser, it is a waste of resources while consumers can only roll their eyes in frustration, thinking, “Not another cheesy ad!” Therefore, some reasonable assumptions must be made to advertise effectively on the Internet.

For example, recognize that Internet users are barraged by ads on a moment-by-moment basis. From the time they start using search engines up to the time they’re posting on forums, online advertising campaigns are visible everywhere. Stand out from the crowd by avoiding cheesy advertising. Below are some top tips to consider:

Understand that You May Be Interrupting– Depending on the medium used, it’s important to remember that you may be interrupting readers and consumers. Advertising on Google may not be too intrusive, but it is another matter if you’re posting ads on social media sites and in emails. Always give value to readers in these cases.

Compelling Ad Copy– Whether you’re engaged in direct marketing or pay-per-click advertising, there’s no substitute for good written copy. It can determine whether reader interest may result in conversion (subscription, referral, and even purchases).

Avoid Banner Blindness– If you’re using banner ads for online advertising, it may be a good idea to swap ads regularly. Aside from being a good testing ground to determine what works (in terms of colors, designs, etc), ad changes will also keep readers from getting bored. They will become “blind” to your product if they see the same ads for it all the time.

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1. Website

Using your vanity number on your website is critical. Some people try to get by with just an email contact form, but failing to deliver credibility with full contact information can drastically reduce the advertising effectiveness of all your online marketing campaigns. In fact, it has been proven that providing your toll free number on your website not only increases conversions but helps prevent charge-backs.

2. Social Media

You should not only be including your vanity number on your company’s social media profiles but on your personal ones as well. This listing will make it easy for those who want to refer you business to pass on your business phone number.

3. Business Cards

Although the power of business cards may have become underestimated in the last couple of years due to all the other marketing channels available, you should have them, and you must have your vanity number on them. In fact, you should have a system that provides and requires all of your employees to have your toll free number on their business cards. This consistency not only improves effectiveness but makes sure you don’t lose clients when employees leave.

4. Email Signature

Many Internet marketing gurus are now insisting that you include links to your social media in your email signature, but doing so isn’t a substitute for including your vanity numbers. You don’t want prospects to get lost surfing Facebook; you want them either to email you or to pick up the phone and make a deal now!

5. Display Advertising

This tip should not even need to be mentioned; however, some companies still, surprisingly, attempt to use local numbers. You only have seconds for your number to be remembered, and using toll free numbers on your display advertising also provides easy capture of callers who do not leave a message and enables you to track performance better.

6. Blog

While you probably already have your vanity number on your website, you will probably find that your blog may receive more visits and that your traffic is spending more time on your blog each visit, so you must not overlook your blog as a crucial place for your vanity number to be prominently displayed.

7. Direct Mail

Direct mail has recently seen a resurgence in success, but without using your 800 numbers for testing and tracking, you are giving the edge to your competition.

In today’s highly competitive environment, business marketing tactics are constantly changing. It is crucial to be up-to-date with the latest and most effective techniques to keep in-step with competitors. Right now, some of the most important tactics involve online promotion. To have a solid strategy, there are certain things you should do, build, and acquire. So here are the business marketing must haves for 2010 and beyond!

• Social Media Profiles – by profiles, we don’t just mean creating them and leaving them, but actively promoting your presence! This means adding friends, getting followers, and encouraging people to talk about you.

• Company Blog – having a website is no longer enough. Today, people seek better engagement. This trend is propelled even further because a lot of companies have dedicated blogs for customers and readers – creating an expectation among the public that everyone should have one!

• Bookmarking Widget – people generally want to share interesting facts and tidbits. Installing a bookmarking widget to your blog and articles enables readers to bookmark, share, and email it to their friends.

• Mobile-Friendly Site – the next big trend is coming: Mobile Internet. Today, more people own cell phones than personal computers. And they are increasingly accessing Facebook and other websites through mobile devices.

As you can see, the business marketing must haves of the future are not difficult to acquire. But it takes a certain level of effort to make them work! For example, blogs and social media profile should be constantly updated to keep people interested. Stay on top of new business marketing tactics and your competitors will be trying to keep up with you.

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Reverse phone number searches can be necessary for all kinds of reasons. Perhaps you are trying to find out who is talking to your wife or boyfriend, you want to know who is behind that strange number that keeps calling you, you want to acquire a certain number, or you need to stop a number from continually running up your toll free number bill with unwanted calls. Whatever your reasons for a reverse phone number search, trying to perform your own detective work can quickly become frustrating if you do not know where to look.

Occasionally for cell phones, you may be able to perform reverse phone number searches simply by typing variations of the number into search engines like Google and Bing. However, all too often the result is just bringing up paid reverse phone number search sites that cannot guarantee they have the exact information you want. When it comes to reverse phone number searches for cell phones, you can also try sites like Board Tracker, which are designed to search forums and networking sites that normally do not come up in Google searches. Or if you are really desperate, you can try call spoofing which masks your number and voice, so you can call the number directly.

Fortunately, if you need a reverse phone number search for an 800 toll free number, things are a little more straightforward. Owners of toll free numbers are closely guarded by phone companies and sometimes even by the owners themselves. However, by using the latest and most advanced reverse phone number search tools, you can now instantly get details on 800, 888, 877, 866, and 855 numbers for free. You will also find that the leading toll free number providers offer further search and negotiation options that guarantee results.

If your customers can’t find you, they won’t be able to acquire your products or services even if they so desire. This problem applies equally to potential prospects and existing or past customers. Without an easy-to-remember phone number, it is also much more difficult to generate word-of-mouth advertising and referrals.

Sure you can list your business in the Yellow Pages and various online directories, but what we are talking about is an easy-to-remember number that can be memorized in a few seconds and is easily recognized as being yours. Smart business owners know how important it is to lock in winning vanity phone numbers that unify their branding and tie together their web domain names and company names from the start.

Just having a great toll free phone number is no use if no one knows about it, so make sure to include your vanity number on all of your marketing pieces as well as all communications with the public. Take a minute and think about your own shopping and referral habits. No doubt you have seen thousands of infomercials on TV, hundreds of billboards and display ads, and have received countless direct mail pieces. Often even may have been interested in what was being offered, but if you didn’t have the time to write down the phone number, you likely ended up going with another company for your needs, one that was easier to call. When it comes to referrals, you may often enjoy helping others by giving them contact numbers for companies and services that can help them. However, if you don’t remember the number off the top of your head and you can’t find it in your wallet or phone within a couple of seconds, the opportunity usually ends there. Referrals and word-of-mouth advertising are the most profitable forms of marketing; plan ahead for them. Isn’t it worth making sure you have a phone number that promotes for you?

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VOIP phone service has bloomed over the last few years. Once solely the domain of unreliable offshore call centers, VOIP phone service has now become integrated into everyday life both for business and personal use.

Individuals all over the world are now using the likes of VOIP phone services such as Skype and Google Voice to communicate on a daily basis. Not only does VOIP phone service Skype offer free Skype to Skype calls, but extremely inexpensive phone service around the globe for as little at $13.99 a month. Even courts have now recognized the success of these VOIP phone service and video communication tools, and in at least one landmark case, a U.S. judge ordered a woman to obtain Skype for her children to use to communicate with their father as part of a custody agreement.

The real question is: Are VOIP phone services really reliable enough to conduct business on a daily basis in a professional way? It is true that, even as recently as a year ago, poor Internet services together with VOIP phone service often meant that call quality was unpredictable at best and commonly unusable at least one day of the week, so it was often responsible for causing prospects as much frustration as it was for actually closing deals. Fortunately, that has changed, and now 99.9 percent of the time, you would never know someone was calling you via a VOIP phone service. Businesses of all sizes can now successfully use these business phone services to set up remote teams and even build their own call centers cheaply, streamlining their operations and increasing their profit margins.

Combined with toll free numbers and advanced routing options managed by Independent RespOrgs for incoming calls, VOIP phone services can now be credited with helping to launch hundreds of new businesses and divisions in the last couple of years alone. In fact, without the ability to partner VOIP phone service and toll free numbers together effectively, not only would many of these companies not have been viable at all, but the unemployment rate in the U.S. and abroad would be much higher than it is today.

Today, it seems like almost anything can be customized! The reason is simple: people are starting to demand uniqueness. So anything from a car plate number to a T-shirt has a customized number or message. The same thing is now possible with phone numbers. Known as personal vanity numbers, these phone numbers provide a wide range of benefits. While some prefer to call them “personal” vanity numbers, it is quite interesting that most people who take advantage of this service usually do so for business purposes.

Vanity numbers enable businesses to gain a competitive edge in the market because they are easy to remember and can be quickly related to the company’s products/services. Small businesses, medium scale enterprises, and large corporations alike have experienced the benefits of using vanity numbers. These companies have contributed to their bottom lines by improving customer response and ensuring satisfaction.

Keep in mind a few things when choosing vanity numbers:

• Relevance – instead of being a burden, phone numbers can be a doorway to an opportunity if you customize them! Ask about vanity numbers from Custom Toll Free today.
• Simplicity – the personal vanity number must be simple enough to pronounce and be easy to remember. At the same time, keep to your creative side! Make your brand stand out.
• Catchiness – there’s no point in subscribing to vanity numbers if no one can remember them. Choose something catchy to keep your brand in the forefront of customers’ minds.

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