We encourage everyone to blog. Why? Because it leads to good things that seem to make your website more powerful.
Here is a good blog posting that talks about blogging in relation to your social media efforts that we think is worth a read.
Click here.
Blogging is technically free, but takes up a lot of your time. That’s why we blog on behalf of our Internet Marketing clients. To find out more, click here, or give us a call at (260)489-2884.
Now it’s official. Over half of the people with mobile phones in America have smart phones. Among 25 to 34 year olds, smart phone penetration is about two thirds. What does this all mean to you? It means that almost half of everybody has the one of the most effective marketing and sales devices with them whenever and whereever they go. Right now, there are people at Target looking at merchandise, and checking their smart phone to see where else they can get the same item for less. At auto dealers, there are people on the lot looking at new and used cars and checking the Kelly Blue Book Value on their phones. There are people driving around town, seeing your store or business, and wondering who you are and what you do, and finding out by checking the smart phone that half of almost everyone has in their pocket or purse. Once they buy from you, they’re on their smart phone sharing that with their friends, giving them an instant review of your store and the way they were treated, or mistreated while there. Data is running rampant. You either control the conversation, or it controls you. That’s what Internet Marketing is all about. learn more on our website. (Source: Nielson March 2012.)
Success in using social media starts with remembering to use it. At one time, marketing consisted of meeting with your newspaper rep, giving him or her the info on your upcoming “Dollar Day” sale, and letting them run it in the local paper a couple times. By the middle of the 20th century, you could add radio and TV along with the paper, and that combination stood for nearly 60 years.
Today, it’s not just that newspaper circulation is declining, or that TV and radio audiences are fragmented, the switch to social media is taking place precisely because it works. At least it works if you remember to use it.
First, every time you plan a sales event, think about how you can include social media…Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and others.
Second, start thinking of new marketing events you can do only with social media.
It’s a habit you not only should get in; it’s a habit you must get in for the future of your business.
If you need help with social media, it’s out there. Visit our Social Media page on our website (www.kingmarketinginc.com), or Google “internet marketing” to find local agencies that can help.
(We are planning a free Social Media seminar in March or April. Go to our Facebook page and “like” us, or follow us on Twitter. That way you’ll find out the date and times. And, don’t forget our free Search Engine Optimization Seminar on February 7. Sign up here.)
Back in the 1970’s, union farm workers in California organized a lettuce boycott. Not being particularly fond of lettuce, I was happy to join in. This was one of only a few successful consumer boycotts of that time, and it took years to make it work.
During the past six months, we have witnessed three consumer boycotts that produced the desired results within only a few days. The first was the customer revolt against Netflix when it decided to, in effect, double their rates. The slow response from the company put it’s stock into a tailspin, and in the long run, they may never recover. A few weeks ago, Go Daddy customers decided to protest that company’s decision to support SOPA (If you don’t know what SOPA is, click here and learn.) Tens of thousands of hosting customers cancelled their service. Here, do the math: $5.99 per month, every month times 32,000 customers, the number that quit in one 36 hour period, comes to over 2.3 million dollars a year. Go Daddy now thinks SOPA is flawed as is, and has withdrawn its support. And just last week, Verizon tried to charge its customers a $2.00 service fee if they paid their bill by credit card. That boycott barely got off the ground before Verizon said “uncle.”
What’s different between now and 1970’s is the power of the social network. The farm workers had a tough time getting their voices heard. After an appeal made during the Democratic Convention, lettuce sales dropped for two weeks, then went back up. People probably thought the problem was over, and had no way really to know otherwise.
Today, however, the news about NetFlix, Godaddy, and Verizon sped around the world within hours. People reported it in blogs. The blog posting were spread by Facebook. The buzz on Facebook was picked up by the media. And all of this was done within hours. Bloggers proposed solutions, such as “Leave Go Daddy Day” set for December 29th last year.
All of this shows that consumers now have a tremendous new power for dealing with large corporations, or as in the Middle East, with dictatorial governments. It also shows the power of social media, and how it can be used for good or bad, depending on which side you are on.
Companies, large and small, must embrace this power, understand it and harness it for their own good. Have you posted on your company blog and Facebook page today?
One of our Internet Marketing clients, Workspace Solutions, is having a holiday contest. Send them a photo of your office/workspace holiday decorations, and you might just win a $50 holiday gift card.
Click on the graphic below to learn more or enter:
Nov 2
We believe there are six distinct processes in the Internet Marketing process. People often ask us, which one, if I only did one, which would be most effective? My answer is Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.
And, apparently, the internet marketing world agrees with me. A brand new study by Webmarketing123, a California-based online marketing agency, shows that 57% of Business to Business marketers thought that SEO was most important, while 41% of Business to Retail Customers thought it was most important. Next in importance were Pay for Click ads and Social Media Marketing. The majority of those surveyed also said they planned to increase spending on Pay for Click (things like Google AdWords), and Social Media Marketing (Facebook, Twitter, etc) in the coming year.
The cheapest way to increase your internet traffic is to move your search listing closer to the top of page one. If they can’t find you, your terrific website, stunning videos, and your brilliant Facebook and Blog entries will never be seen.
You can learn more about the SEO and the other five spokes of internet marketing by clicking here.
The big companies in the US are jumping into social media and digital advertising at a much faster rate than local small and medium sized businesses, according to a recent study by BIA/Kelsey, a company that tracks local ad business. The same report shows this is about to change.
And it should. Facebook, and other social media, are free. It just takes some time and imagination to make use of them. Web video is often more affordable to do than a TV commercial. At times, you need a professionally done video. At other times, a short video shot with a low cost camera will do a good job of showing your customers a process that might be very difficult to do with text or a series of still photos. (Learn more about Social Media and Video here)
Start using Facebook and videos to promote your business and you’re on the cutting edge. Wait a year or so, and you’ll be the last on your block to do it. Being first isn’t everything, but as Peanut’s creator Charles Shultz once said, “Nobody remembers who came in second.”
Are you planning to use Social Media and web videos more in the coming year, or not?
Many of the millions of parents and grandparents now using Facebook, were introduced to social media by their teenagers. Now there are signs that teens may are dissatisfied with recent changes to Facebook, and are considering Google+ as an alternative. Twenty-five percent of teens say they will use Google+ more as a direct result of Facebook’s changes, according to a survey of teens 14-17 by the agency Mr. Youth, while 10 percent say they will completely stop using Facebook. Just 4 percent said they would use Facebook more as a result of its changes, with 47 percent planning to continue to use the site as they did before.
We’ll see what actually happens. Many teens will find that if they post on Google+ only, their friends who are still on Facebook will miss the posting. What do you think?
Still, Facebook remains one of the most powerful sales and marketing tools of the new century. You can learn more about social media on our website by clicking here.
Oct 5
First, while 14.4 million teens using Facebook is no surprise, what about the 10.4 million people aged 55-64 using it?
Next, 62% of Facebook users are female, while 67.1% of Google+ users are male.
So, are we creating one social network for women, and another for men? What do you think.
Source, MediaLife Magazine.
Most of you are aware of the paid search engine listings you see on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Did you know that you can buy ads on Facebook as well? A lot of people don’t, and Facebook is out to change that by offering free advertising to small business starting this coming January. It’s only $50 worth, but that does go a long way on Facebook. Compared to Google AdWords, the click through rates are much cheaper right now on Facebook, mainly because it just isn’t as popular with advertisers as Google. As with AdWords, you can do a lot of market targeting on Facebook. Also, watch your email or snail mail. Google has been sending out a lot of free $100 coupons as well.
Have you had any luck with Facebook Ads? We’d love to hear about your experiences.
And, if you’d like to know more about search engine or Facebook advertising, contact us.
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