Are Twitter Followers Better Than Facebook Fans? - eMarketer

via emarketer.com

5 Easy Web Tools Your Small Business Should be Using

"If you don't do ______, then you're going to be out of business by this time next year."

This, or something like it, is what many businesses are told by a variety of companies peddling services every day. I've heard it from the yellow pages salesman, an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) company, a direct-mail service—the list goes on and on. When I was in retail many years ago, nary a day went by when there wasn't someone telling us that we were doing it wrong, or weren't doing enough.

Unfortunately, as I sit here many years wiser—there is an ironic (for me, at least) ring of truth to some of it. Many businesses aren't doing enough. Sometimes it's due to lack of time or lack of resources—and believe me, I certainly get that. But I don't want it to be for lack of awareness. As such, I'm sharing several web tools below—some of which are free—that EVERY small business should be using to maximize their advantage in today's electronic marketplace.

1. Claim Your Google Places Listing - Visit http://places.google.com or do a search for your business on http://maps.google.com. At the top of the page directly below the search box you'll see a link titled, "Business Owner?". Click that button and you'll claim your business in Google's version of the yellow pages. Select the button to edit your information, and click continue. This is where the magic begins. Check through the address and contact information listed to be sure that it's correct, then add your business website URL (if you have one), add a brief description of the company and validate the categories in which you'd like your business to appear (you get to pick up to 5 categories). Lastly, verify the hours that you're open, the payment types that you accept and the brands that you carry (if applicable). Hit the "Submit" button at the bottom. Lastly, Google will use an automated service to call the phone number listed for your business and provide a PIN number to verify the information. Once you get the call, return to Google Places, enter the PIN number and verify the listing. Now you're done! In less than five minutes, you now have a verified, accurate, searchable presence on the web!
2. Use a Custom, Domain-Based Email Address - This is an important one, as the image that you present reflects on the brand. If you own a company named John's Widgets, but you're using an email address that reads rockinginthefreeworld@hotmail.com, it doesn't exactly reinforce your widget company when you publish your contact information or send your customers an email. Instead, consider buying the a custom domain (usually around $10-15) for your business and create a mail record for the domain. While it isn't quite as straight forward as claiming your Google Places listing, it's not hard, and there are a number of professionals that are willing to help you do it for less than you'd probably think (Ideavise offers this service). As a customer, getting an email from john@johnswidgets.com is far more professional than a seemingly random Hotmail address. It tells the customer that you're serious about your business and adds a little credibility as well.
3. Set up Google Alerts - Google's search spiders crawl the web constantly, looking for new content to add to the myriads of data that is scoured during a Google search inquiry. And, if you know how, you can put those spiders to work for you. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts. If you have a gMail email address (if you don't, create one now, it's free and will be required to use the service) you can enter a name or phrase and have Google send you alerts any time a new instance of that name or phrase is found on the web. To revisit our friend John and his widget shop, if he entered John's Widgets into the search terms, Google would send him a notification any time his name appears in a new listing on the web. This includes social networking sites like Twitter as well, and allows John to keep up with what people are saying about his business or maybe do a little damage control if misinformation is being spread.
4. Start Using Social Networking; Facebook, Twitter, Yelp - While they're important, I've put these lower on the list for a reason. They have many benefits, increased web presence, interacting with your customers where they are, getting involved with and staying abreast of news and changes within your industry. BUT, like any marketing avenue, it requires time and effort. It's called SOCIAL networking for a reason, and if you don't have the time to spend reading and interacting, you may be better off avoiding these avenues all together. I'd propose that a Facebook account with zero new posts for the last two years is more damaging than not having one at all. Not having an account gives the impression that you may just not have found Facebook yet, having a dormant account leaves one to wonder if you're still in business. A lot of people don't understand the purpose of Twitter. But whether you understand the purpose for it or not, Twitter has a great search feature and is great for keeping up with trends. We have our blog set up to autopost to our Twitter account as well, and have attracted followers based on what we post here. Lastly, Yelp is similar to Google Places in that it is a local business "yellow pages" type listing, but adds in the functionality of allowing users to rank and discuss the service that they've received. Despite some of the controversy surrounding Yelp over the past few years, it's still my go-to site for restaurant recommendations (among other things) when I'm traveling in an area that I don't know very well. I've found some REALLY good restaurants via Yelp that I never would have found on my own. Bonus: as a registered business owner, Yelp allows you to review and respond to customers publicly and privately using their service. This can be a helpful way to add to conversations with your patrons or correct misinformation about your products or services.
5. Create an Inexpensive "Business-Card" Style Website - I've sat across the table from clients who's eyes get as big as dinner plates when they hear about the myriad of options involved in setting up a website. It can be an overwhelming process, but it doesn't have to be. If you're short on free time or finances (or both), sometimes a simple "business-card" style website will get you started. Let me be clear on this. Your clients ARE searching for you on the web. If they don't find anything, then they're probably moving on to the next company. If you've already taken the plunge in step #2 above and purchased a custom URL for your business email, then you're already part of the way there. When I refer to a "business-card" website, I'm talking about a single page website that has nothing more than basic information about your company name, your logo and how to contact you. For as little as a few hundred dollars, you can have a searchable presence on the web and a URL to add to your Google Places and Yelp listings. Is this ideal? No. This site isn't going to detail your products or services, tell you customers about your company or relay any glowing testimonials from past clients. BUT, if you're on a budget and short on time, it's a great place to start and it's better than nothing.

These are the recommendations that we use as a starting point with all of our new clients. I hope that you've found this list useful. Do you have questions about the information above. Are you unsure of where to start? As a full-service creative agency, we can help. And there's never a cost to ask questions. Drop us a line at info@ideavise.com or call (719) 355-3579.

Thanks for reading!

—Jason @ Ideavise

Facebook's Impact on Retailers - Bicycle Retailer & Industry News

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI (BRAIN)—Retailers who are actively involved in marketing their products and/or services using Facebook may have a distinct advantage over their competitors, according to the latest Morpace Omnibus study.

The study finds that not only are consumers joining Facebook fan pages that are managed by businesses, but they use Facebook as a means to offer and receive product recommendations. The study concentrates on three key areas: which consumer segments are most likely to use Facebook and how frequently; how often consumers search for or share product/company opinions or information, and which demographics are most likely to use the social media Web site.

"The results show us that Facebook is a tool for retailers to directly communicate with their target market," said Morpace retail vice president Kirsten Denyes. "Retailers can offer consumers product information and exclusive coupons and discounts to create viral product buzz among Facebook consumers."

Among the primary reasons consumers join a Facebook fan page are: "To let my friends know what products I support," (41 percent) and "To receive coupons and discount offers," (37 percent). More than 36 percent of consumers consider Facebook to be a useful tool for researching products.

Nearly 68 percent of consumers say that a "positive referral from a Facebook friend makes them more likely to buy a specific product or visit a certain retailer." The study also reveals that non-Caucasian consumers tend to be more active users of Facebook, and will more likely join retailer fan pages. One-half (50 percent) of Hispanics, 46 percent of Asians, and 44 percent of African Americans consider Facebook to be a useful tool for researching new products. Only 31 percent of Caucasians agreed.

A total of 1,000 respondents were surveyed March 10-17 as part of the March 2010 online panel.

via bicycleretailer.com

As a 15 year veteran of the bicycle industry, it's always interesting to me when external studies are applied to the bike industry—which very often does not follow traditional marketing metrics.

This, however, is good data for all small businesses, not just those in the bicycle industry. It's tough to ignore when 68 percent of consumers say that they were positively influenced toward a purchase because of a relationship on Facebook; or that 36 percent consider Facebook to be a useful tool for researching products.

I know that making decisions on marketing and social media probably aren't high on your agenda as a small business. That's where we come in. If you're ready to start looking at business outreach from a holistic standpoint but don't know where to begin, please give us a call. We can do it more quickly and cost-effectively than you'd probably think.

Thanks for reading.

—Jason@Ideavise - (831) 887.0111

Social Fans More Likely to Buy - eMarketer

via emarketer.com

Using Social Marketing to Find Online Shoppers

via emarketer.com

According to a study posted at eMarketer.com (the study was done by ForeSee Results) 69% of online shoppers regularly use social media sites.

69% is a massive number, and not one that can be overlooked. Now is the time to get your business online to start connecting with customers.

If you're curious as to what is involved in starting an entry-level marketing program for your business, stay tuned. In the coming week we'll be talking about steps to take when developing a marketing campaign and where your efforts should go in order to see the largest impact.

Thanks for reading.

—Jason @ Ideavise

Your Questions Answered :: How to Start Strong Using Social Media Marketing

Reader Robert Justin writes:

"...And Now We'll Open the Floor for Questions"

I get a sense from our customers (and people that we talk with around town), that there are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding digital marketing, web strategy, social media and whether or not it's a good time to be spending money on such things. This is normal. At one point or another, we all have questions about our businesses (whether you own it, or just work in it). It's good to have a network of people that you can rely on to bounce questions and ideas off of.

One of the roles that we routinely fill for our clients is one of advisor or consultant. This service costs money, and can range from a one-time meeting to an ongoing monthly retainer-type agreement. But what if you could ask questions about the process and get a straight answer WITHOUT the cost or structured agreement? Would you do it?

Here's what I'm proposing:

If you have a question about business—specifically something related to design, marketing, technology, brand development, websites, social media, etc., post it in the comments section after this post or on our Ideavise Facebook page. Chances are that you're not the only person wondering, and we'd like to help get those questions answered.

Another thing; we're straight shooters. We've been around the block and we've got a lot of experience. But if we don't know the answer to a particular question, we'll tell you that we don't know and we'll make a few phone calls to try and find out. We know people. Smart people.

In a nutshell, our goal is to help you make infomed decisions about how to market your business. That's what we do.

So let's hear it. What questions can we answer for you?

—Jason @ Ideavise

When it Comes to Social Marketing—Are You Wasting Your Money?

Recently, I was sent an article on the effectiveness of marketing via social sites like Facebook and Twitter. The article even went so far as to break down the data to show distinctions between the B2B (Business-to-Business service providers) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer providers). I'm sharing the gist of the article, but if you'd like to read the full article you'll find it here at eMarketer.com.

Marketing via social networking sites is the hammer that you use to build the house, not the house itself.

Email Marketing Isn't Dead... So Use It!

Much has been said about the demise of email thanks to some of the new social networking tools that we now have at our disposal. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. have changed the game of connecting customers to companies. But what of email? Is it no longer valid? Has it been passed over by quicker, "tidier" methods of communcation?

Not according to a study published by eMarketer using data from sites StrongMail and ShareThis. According to the study:

A study of sharing activity across the ShareThis network in October 2009 also revealed that e-mail was the top channel for distributing content to friends, with 46.4% of all shares. About one-third of shares went to Facebook and less than 6% were tweeted.

Overall, Twitter did post the highest click-through rate in both studies quoted. But email came back swinging with higher page counts after click-through.

So how can you and I apply this to our businesses?

1. Make sure that you have an email marketing strategy for your business. If you're short on time/bandwidth, don't fret—it doesn't need to be a weekly investment. Shoot for sending out an email once per quarter. Recap important news, and give your customers an opportunity to engage with the brand. Launch a contest, ask for feedback, announce a promotion specifically targeted to customers on your email list. The end goal is to make them feel like they have the inside track on what's happening with your brand.
2. Email marketing is just one component of a well-rounded online strategy. As are Twitter, Facebook and the myriad of other social networking opportunities out there. Go ahead, start a Facebook fan page. But don't rely on it solely to carry your online marketing efforts. And just as Facebook shouldn't be your only online marketing effort, you shouldn't rely on direct email marketing to carry your voice by itself.

If you have questions on how to implement an email marketing strategy (hint: it's much easier than you think), drop us a line using the email address above or the comments box below. We've designed and implemented many successful emarketing campaigns, and can help you avoid the pitfalls that many people face when they're just starting out.

Thanks for reading!

—Jason @ Ideavise