Custom vanity URL’s to track ad campaign ROI

A long time ago businesses and marketers would use different phone numbers to track the effectiveness of their advertising.  A jump page or vanity URL is a more advanced way to do this, but does not apply equally to all ad campaigns the same.  Example:  Online Advertising such as web banners, sponsorships on other websites, and email blasts typically have their own tracking metrics, so they do not require a vanity URL.  Also, “call to action” vs “branding campaigns” are treated differently.  Since a branding campaign is about branding your business, it will get more benefit directing to your business website domain name directly.  On the other hand, a “call to action” campaign is perfect for vanity URLs.  Creating one will allow you to compare different campaigns and track how your advertising dollars are working for you.

Vanity URLs can be used for any “call to action,” or “direct response” ad campaign running offline.

• Radio
• TV
• Newspaper
• Direct Mail
• Billboards

Want to track mobile apps?  Find instructions here.

Custom Vanity URL’s and Jump Pages for your ads.

Most people will prefer to go to your website homepage to find your advertising offer or incentive.  If you create a vanity URL or jump page outside of your homepage, make sure it redirects to your business website.  Make sure that the process of finding you is user friendly and super fool-proof.  Because it will not be printed for reference later, radio, billboard and TV ads will require a URL that is very simple, and very easy for people to remember.   Here’s an example of an easy to remember URL:  /yumyogurt/free-taste offer.  After you have chosen your short and creative vanity URL, you can purchase it using any domain registration site for a very small annual fee.  (ow.ly), (bit.ly) and others are URL shorteners used by Hootsuite and Twitter.  You can also use them, and they are free.  However, the most benefit would be to create a vanity URL specifically for your business.

Google analytics campaign parameters

So, the whole purpose of using Google analytics is to track your advertising return on investment.   If you need help with this process, there are plenty on online tutorials to get you started.  (Google URL building link here.) Once you have a URL, and are at the Google URL building tool, you’ll need to enter some basic campaign parameters such as:  Your real website URL, the source of the campaign, (campaign medium), the type of marketing it is, and that easy to remember campaign name that we spoke of in last paragraph.  Lastly, you’ll need to log back into the site where you purchased the vanity URL and ensure that the “redirect” or “forward” options are selected so you can past in the URL generated using the Google URL tool.  Once all of this is complete, test to be sure it’s been done correctly.  Hopefully your ads are working great for you, and leading to many conversions!

Website Traffic Report; Analytics and Metrics

Data about your website traffic can be collected from AdWords, Webmaster Tools, AdSense and sources outside of any Google product.  However, using Google Analytics, users can modify data with configurations, specifying rules and utilize a TON of customized setting options.  (So many, that it may really benefit a small business to outsource data collecting and reporting services.)  All reporting data found in Google Analytics is based on different combinations of dimensions and metrics.  Here’s a brief breakdown…

ANALYTICS DEFINED:  Statistics and mathematics converted into useful data

Within your website analytics are trends, habits, performance indicators, lead generators and other information that can be used to plan better in the future.  By identifying patterns and trends, for example, you can gain a better understanding of customer behavior, as well as peaks and valleys driven by advertising campaigns.  Within analytics, it’s fairly easy to recognize the top players who drive conversions, through the traffic that they send to your website.

Data for Google analytics can be collected using these methods:

1. By associating a tracking code
2. By account linking
3. By data importing

Ensure that your business website is connected to analytics tracking.  Follow Google instructions for collecting traffic data information at this site here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008080?hl=en

METRICS: A standard of measurement

Metrics through the eyes of business success is a very useful component of accountability and determination regarding what is working for your investment and what is not.  Formulate and measure the effectiveness of how your investments are working for you using the metrics found on Google Analytics. Savvy marketers will pay close attention to those metrics that enable them to connect activity to business results.

Metrics include, but are not limited to:

• Activity related to the number of things you have produced, such as the number of blog posts, events, campaigns, and the associated hard and soft costs of those things.
• Output related to the resulting traffic, mentions or event participation regarding what you have produced.
• Operational metrics such as cost per lead, cost per click, etc.
• Outcome metrics which include “the share” or “rate of” something.

*The Leaning Tree Marketing, LLC provides and affordable analytics reporting services to local businesses in the Metro-Milwaukee and surrounding areas.  

Google Algorithms Penguin and Hummingbird

Google changes or updates its algorithms 500-600 times per year.  (yikes!)  For a small business, this is a lot to keep up with.  Having a webmaster that keeps up with these changes will make a big difference in your bottom line.

Had changes recently in your search results?  Knowing when the Google algorithm updates took effect may help explain those changes:  SEO MOZ list of major algorithmic changes that have had the biggest impact on search.

August 2013, Google Hummingbird

Hummingbird was created to help provide better “conversational search” results, paying more attention to every word in a query, rather than pulling from a few key words.  When you speak a search topic such as, “Place to buy Green Bay Packer jersey?”  Traditional search engine may have focused on matches for the words, “buy” and “Green Bay Packer,” for example.  Hummingbird takes the search a step further by focusing on the meaning behind the spoken search words.  If you’ve shared with Google, it will recognize your location and compare it to your search.  It may understand that “place” means you want a brick-and-mortar store. It might get that “Green Bay Packer jersey” is a particular brand and type of clothing carried by certain stores. The goal is that pages matching the meaning do better, rather than pages matching just a few words.

October 2013, Google Penguin

Penguin is not a replacement for Hummingbird, but rather a part of it.  Hummingbird is like Google’s entire ranking engine, whereas Penguin is like a small part of that engine, a filter that is removed and periodically replaced with what Google considers to be a better filter to help keep out bad stuff.  Penguin is a part of Google’s overall search algorithm, designed to detect web spam and remove it from results.  If links are showing high in search results, but appear to be “Paid links” or “spammy,” Google will penalize your search results.  They just want to ensure that the results appearing in SERPs are all relevant and provide quality content pertaining to your search.

Over the years, there have been many update versions of the penguin algorithm.  (Penguin 1, 1.2, 2, 2.2, etc.)  If your site was affected by the most recent Penguin update, you would have noticed a marked drop in traffic over the past week.  How to fix the problem?  Get rid of those paid links.

Web Masters keep in mind, “Relevance and Quality”

Content on sites must be relevant and sector-related to fair well on Google search.  Web masters should double check to ensure links are relevant to their specific topics and that they have developed organically.   It is also vital that the content on your site is frequently updated and changing.

Consultants, Contractors, Who’s on Your Team?

At least you can take comfort in the fact that your team has your back, right?  Not always.

Team Players.  Having the right people in place is critical to your business success.   Just because someone has been employed at your company for ten plus years doesn’t make them a star employee.   There should be a motivational relationship between your business success, and the rewards/success of each team player.  However, it’s impossible to be responsible for all of the motivation behind each team member.  A good employee will have a deep sense of obligation to work hard, no matter what the circumstances.  If they become too comfortable, lazy, or unmotivated, there are plenty of eager and hard-working people ready to take their place!

Consultants and Contractors. The next question is, “should you hire a new employee or contract out for services?”  There are a lot of advantages to hiring a professional contractor or consultant.

• Reduce overhead. Reducing expenses is a real attraction to hiring an independent contractor or consultant.  Lower overhead means less stress to cover costs.  New business can go right into your wallet and ensure the future success of your company.
• No health benefits are necessary.  According to the EBRI, employers traditionally spend just over 29 percent on employee benefits.
• Cost control.  With more employees, your office will probably have to move to a bigger space, but more office equipment, etc.  Not so with a contractor or consultant.   Another method of cost control would include scaling back on spending during seasonal or slow periods.  Basically, you’ll have the ability to take on opportunities as they arise.
• Highly specialized.  Many consultants and contractors come trained and highly specialized, giving your company a leading edge towards greater profitability.  No successful business works in a vacuum.  Hiring an independent consultant or contractor offers flexibility to the changing work demands of your company, as well as the changing demands of the marketplace.
• Require less management.  As your employee numbers grow, you become less involved in practicing your trade and more involved in people management issues.  THIS IS A BIG ONE!  You have to worry about worker-related lawsuits, putting out fires and ensuring that everyone is doing what they are supposed to be.  Independents and contractors are self-employed.  Due to the fact that they are more motivated and accountable, they require far less management, if any.
• Well-networked and well-informed. Many consultants and contractors come well-networked to freelance experts, sales reps and business professionals of all sorts.  In order to remain relevant, they have to stay on top of trends, continue training and make sure they remain well-informed.

To find a good contractor or consultant, ask around.  Some of the best referrals will be from people you already know and respect.

The Leaning Tree Marketing is an advertising freelance professional, well-respected in the Milwaukee WI marketplace.

Psychology behind my online purchase abandonment

This is an interesting topic as I just recently abandoned an online purchase myself.  I’m a busy and admittingly impatient person when it comes to shopping for something specific.

Due to the amount jogging that I do, my running shoes have to be replaced fairly frequently.  (I’ve come to love the high end ASICS for comfort and durability.)   I tend to like to try things on and ‘experience’ the product first hand.  Call me”old-fashioned,” but I do appreciate experiencing the touch and feel of a product before purchase, I always check local stores first.   I already knew that I wanted to purchase the ASICS Women’s GEL-Kinsei 4 Running Shoe, however, these specialty shoes are not easy to find.  Sure that a running store would have these shoes, I was still unwilling to travel out off my beaten path to find such a store.  After shopping around Sports Authority and other local sporting goods store, I became somewhat desperate and frustrated after a couple of weeks.

Eager for a simple and quick solution, I resulted to search online.  The shoes were quickly found at DicksSportingGoods.com.  Excellent!  Dick’s is a local store that I recognized, and probably more convenient if there was ever need for a return or exchange.  The website displayed (3) different colors. ( I don’t buy running shoes for the appearance, but knowing that the shoe I wanted had options was enticing.)  After setting up the e-mail contact and billing information, I put the shoes in my cart only to find that the color I choose was out of stock.  To make things worse, my second choice was also out of stock.  As mentioned, I don’t purchase running shoes for appearance.  However, after learning that I had did have choices, my mind was now focused on getting the color I wanted.  After all, if I’m spending nearly $200 for a pair of shoes, why not get the color I want?  Before continuing to explore options online, my contact info/e-mail address was deleted.  (I knew my cookies were out there, but at least Dicks couldn’t contact me by e-mail.)  So I thought anyway…  The shoes were found at Zappos.com. They didn’t have the color choices I was looking for, BUT they did have a mind-changing offer; $50 savings from the price quoted on Dicks.  I will absolutely buy the ugly running shoes if it saves me $50!  And I did…

I specifically remember deleting my e-mail info, but since the Zappos purchase, Dicks has been sending me annoying e-mails anyway.  All of this had me wondering how many people react as I did, abandoning their initial cart selection for one reason or another.  I found this article from MarketingProfs.com which states that abandonment rates in the second quarter of 2013 were averaging 75%.  The study also found that if an online retailer is able to ‘capture’ contact information before a cart is abandoned because following up with an email can often times become lucrative.

More interesting Q1 2013 facts from SalesCycle.com:

• 73.6% was the average shopping cart, basket and booking abandonment rate (up from 70.7% in Q4 2012)
• Most abandonments happened between 8 and 9pm – with Thursday the most common day
• 48.1% of basket abandonment emails were opened (up from 45.9% in Q4)
• 14.9% of basket abandonment emails were clicked (up from 13.5% in Q4)
• 33.3% of these clickers went on to purchase a product (up from 30.1% in Q4)
• The AOV was 58% higher for purchases from basket abandonment emails compared with direct sales (up from 36% in Q4)
• Revenue per basket abandonment email sent was $5.78  (up from $4.14 Q4) 

Their complaints may be your next Big Idea

It’s a known fact that the internet and social media have amplified customer voices, and it’s not a bad thing.  Yes, there are those who use online outlets to vent rage and obtain some sort of power from posting unwarranted comments.  But, because these internet ‘personalities’ are easy to peg, their comments mean next to nothing in the long run.  Of course, every business owner welcomes a positive review and customer feedback.  After all, what’s not to love about a customer expressing their satisfaction and delight regarding the services and products that you offer?  These words can define the difference between your business and the competition.  Encouraging words and praise can lead to some well-deserved free ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising and encourage new business in the future.

But what about the customer that expresses otherwise?  It’s true that most business owners fear complaints and dread a customer revealing a negative experience online.  However, I believe there are important lessons to be learned, and bigger opportunities to be discovered from a legitimate negative comment or customer concern.

Valid reasons not to fear the LEGITIMATE Negative Customer Complaint:

• Having some negative comments mixed with positive ones will make your business reviews appear more relevant and believable.
• Negative reviews add to the total quantity of reviews a business has which is important, providing more confidence in star ratings (represent an avg. across all reviews).
• Customers who bring to surface and issue want to be heard.  If they have taken the time to express their concerns, they are more likely to return when the issue is resolved.
• Resolving a negative complaint allows opportunity to present a special offer or incentive to motivate that customer return and satisfaction.
• A dis-satisfied customer who doesn’t complain in a public manner could harm your business by talking behind your back and amplifying it’s negative effects without your knowledge.
• After a situation has been exposed, your business can take action to obtain the upper hand, change the tone, and gain a new-found respect from current and potentially new customers.
• Responding and resolving a negative comment allows you, the business owner, a chance to be heard and seen as a business that cares about its customers.
• Your customers are always right.  Your customers know the competition better than you do.  Their questions may be your answers!

Be sure to PLAN for complaints…. as they are guaranteed to happen!  Make resolving those complaints a priority and conduct yourself professionally, especially online.  Compensate an unhappy customer for their inconvenience. Really listen to what customers are trying to tell you, especially if you are hearing the same type of concerns repeated.  Knowing and understanding customers wants and needs will absolutely create new and positive opportunities for your business…the next BIG IDEA.

What are you waiting for?  Tap into it!

Local Marketing not just about Search

It’s true that “word-of-mouth” recommendations from family and friends are the top means for getting a good referral; this is precisely why social media is so important to business.  Social sites allow customers to quickly see, or ask what their social connections have to say about your business.   In addition, some of these social sites have become so sophisticated that they are soon become mini-search engines of their own.  However, to get results, it’s important to be active and interactive…the more involved you are, the better the results.

Be sure to select the social media outlets that best represent your business and potential customer base.  Not only can you gain the trust and respect of potential customers, but it will also help with retention, branding, search engine optimization, and ultimately…more sales!  Information derived from social media will also provide valuable information for planning future marketing and advertising campaigns.  When planning your next campaign blitz, don’t forget that it’s absolutely critical to connect social media to purchased advertising.  I call it “cross-platform marketing,” ensuring that your business branding or promotion is well-connected, and consistent.  This will extend the reach, frequency and ultimate success of your campaign.

Business uses for some of the top social media sites

LinkedIn:  LinkedIn is a professional social networking, and outstanding business-to-business, LEAD GENERATING marketing tool.   Your profile is essentially your business card, so make sure it’s public and search engines will index it!  New company pages allow you to update business products/services and add special offers.

Facebook: New graph search feature allows users to search for businesses according to both location and recommendations from friends.  Keep your Facebook page is categorized correctly and consistently updated with new and relevant information.

Foursquare:  Allow users to check in, find specials and rate your business.  Users can share offers with their friends, extending your message reach.   Ask for feedback from your most loyal patrons, and pay attention to which offers customers have responded best to, and keep them coming back!

Twitter:  With the new ‘anyone know” search, Twitter has become closer to a search engine tool.  Your twitter activity can boost Google search results for your business.  But, you have to do a little bit of work here; converse, respond, talk and interact!  Connect with relevant friends and industry peers to get the most out of it.

YouTube:  Did you know that the second largest search engine after Google is YouTube, yet the tool is often underutilized by businesses?  This could mean big opportunity for you!  In terms of SEO, titles, descriptions, and tags are the most important content elements.  And, of course, video…

Online Visibility; free tools and helpful links

Years ago, building a brand and gaining marketing share was much more simple.  Placing your brand in front of the ideal demographic was more simple because large audiences could be found in fewer places.  A single traditional media, (TV, Radio, billboards or Phone), could be utilized to generate an excellent return on investment, and guerrilla marketing worked wonders for the small business.  However, digital media and the internet changed the advertising world forever.  89% of US internet users search online before they make a purchase, even when the purchase is made at a local business.  Today, a prerequisite to traditional media or guerrilla marketing success depends upon how connected they are to the internet, and how your business is found online.  Therefore, a high level of importance should be placed on search engine results, your website, social media, inbound marketing, and other online marketing efforts.  Creating an online presence which aligns with your company goals and objectives; maintaining an online visibility, managing online activity and managing third-party directories related to your business is critical towards the effort of maximizing profit potential.   This is a big job, which is why 70% of small businesses say they don’t have the time to manage online listings on all of the sites that consumers use.  If your business is ready to compete and gain market share, opportunity knocks.  Below are some tools and tips to get you started…

See how your business is found online:

• Start by searching for your business name on Google, Yahoo and Bing.   (Be sure to erase the ‘history’ before doing each search.)
• Then, search for your competitor.

Review your website content and analytics:

• Lead Sources
• Unique Visitors
• Bounce-rates
• Conversions

Review your website SEO to see where you can improve.

• Keyword density
• Page Rank
• Competitive Website Comparison
• SEO Title
• Traffic Ranking
• Page Load Times (especially important for mobile)
• Incoming Links

Chrome has a free Apps you can download from their store.

SEO Book has free SEO tools on their website.

The Leaning Tree Marketing  provides services such as online, (eReputation Management), to encourage reviews, create a cohesive brand and ensure that you’re utilizing all opportunities to increase online visibility through improved organic search engine results.

Customer Reviews and Chronic Complainers

Some customers express their positive or negative experience in person, which is ideal.  However, some dissatisfied customers quietly take their business elsewhere.  This is an unfortunate situation for your business because you have no way of knowing what went wrong or what to fix.

Even if you have a stellar business that people love, few will actually take the time to write a positive online review.  However, when it comes to negative reviews, you can have the opposite situation.  There are aggressive and chronic complainers who spend most of their time writing reviews online. They prefer to be hidden behind a profile name, and are empowered by the internet because it gives them a loud and lengthy voice.  The aggressive customer does not respond well to any kind of comment or rationalization because they can’t complain if there is a true issue that can be fixed!  A chronic complainer is never satisfied and never stops whining.  Visitors can identify these people simply by clicking on their profile and seeing the list of chronic complaining they’ve done.  When an internet-savvy customer sees a chronic complainer review, they’ll usually ignore it.

Businesses should respond to both positive and negative reviews.  But be aware, once a chronic complainer is pegged, it’s best to walk away because they will always have to have the last word.  Once they see that you have left the conversation, they will move on to the next unfortunate target.

The best advice for handling customer reviews:

• Manage your online reputation to know what people are saying.
• Respond to both positive and negative reviews whenever possible.
• If a review is negative, attempt to handle the situation offline with a phone call.
• If the customer is satisfied with your complaint resolution, ask for a follow-up review!
• Once pegged, ignore the ‘chronic complainer’ and move on.  (They’re a waste of precious time.)
• Negative reviews are nearly impossible to remove, shift energy towards building positive reviews.

Should your business hire an online marketer?

Do a simple search for your business online

Google reports that 97% of Americans use search engines to find local businesses. (July 2012) It’s easy to see for yourself what is found by simply typing in your business name, or major category it’s associated with.  Because results will vary, check all search engines including Google, Yahoo and Bing.  Also check from your desktop, as well as a mobile device.  For accurate results, don’t forget to ‘clear browsing history and cookies’ in-between each search

If you are a business who has embraced good social media practices, those sites are likely to appear.  If you’re a business who has an optimized website, an active Google+ Places account or other frequently updated online listings, they should also appear.

Most businesses find a mess!

How you have found your business online is how potential customers gain their perception of your business.  Most businesses will find a combination of competitor results, incomplete and outdated information, unmanaged duplicates, unclaimed listings and worst-case scenario….negative reviews!    Half of small businesses never update their online listings.  If your business is not found at all, or found in a way that doesn’t represent the image you desire, you’re probably losing money.  It’s a good indication that you need help, and you need it fast.  Find an outside help in an experienced and trust-worthy marketer that others speak highly of.  Investing in a large advertising agency  may not provide the cost efficiency or personal customer service your looking for.  Instead, seek a local marketer who offers a variety of services such as online reputation management, and cross-platform branding, (which will include social media).  These things will help create a cohesive and ‘buttoned-up’ image, improve search engine results and ultimately help your business gain new customers.

A good Online Marketer will utilize free online tools, inbound and content marketing to organize your business before proposing a ‘Pay-Per-click,’ or any other type of media campaign.  They can help you figure out which social media sites your customers are active on and help create a presence in those spaces.  Social media sites, search engines, (especially Google), and technology will continue to evolve and need to be tested.  An online marketer will help you stay up-to-date with these changes and offer new ideas and strategies to make the most of them.

The Bottom Line for your business

Online marketing, especially inbound/content marketing strategies, can be the most efficient way to generate leads!  Compared to the benefits, hiring a professional is a small investment.  However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, the results can be extremely time-consuming and counter-productive for your business.

 

Google+ Tips, Apps & Your Business

Over the past couple of years Google has been positioning their listings, video channels and business applications in a way that ties them directly into Google+, forcing the user to have an active Google+ account.

Google Places Your Google Places business account used to be a stand-alone listing.  Today, Google requires a Google Places account to be linked into a Google+ account, (Google+Places), to manage or update that listing.   Google  Quality Guidelines limit a business to a single listing for each physical location.

Youtube a Google+ tie-in is required in to manage your Youtube videos information.

Google applications – handy for business 

By now, most people are familiar with Gmail and the Calendar features, below are some handy applications for business that many have not yet experimented with:

Google Drive Allows you to store files in the “cloud,” share them, and have access to them from anywhere, including a smartphone.  You get 5GB of storage for free.  Google is always good about privacy settings, so they are always available on the applications.  (public/private)  On that same could you can create:

DOCS:  Include images, tables, and links.  Within DOCS, a business can manage feedback with social commenting.  The application allows multiple people to work on the same document at the same time.  Slides can be created which support embedded videos, animations, and dynamic slide transitions. 

Google Hangouts You can actually hold meetings using a webcam, kind of like a video conference and webinar combined.  With Google Hangouts On Air, you can broadcast publically.  The broadcast can be recorded, edited and then share again online. Limited to 10 active participants, unless you sign up for Google Prime.  Download free Google video chat plugin upon your first hangout.

Team Meetings: See your team, share screenshots or a web URL with a push of a button.

Webinars:  Interactively provide Q&A sessions, create a webinar series or offer sales/customer support.                                                                                

Content Marketing and Google Algorithms

Recently, Google rolled out some new quality controls for content marketing which will play into algorithms important to organic search results.  The change is designed to place relevance on the QUANTITY of new content, and will affect 35% of all search queries.  For businesses who are constantly updating their blog, social media sites, website content, and participating in inbound marketing….this is great news. For those who are not, this change could put a little fire in the seat to do something about it.  Stated in a Google press release,  “Search results, like warm cookies right out of the oven… are best when they’re fresh.”

If you want a piece of the SEO action, be prepared to push out more blogs, tweets, posts, and join in on discussions related to your products, services, and industry at any moment!

Don’t wait another minute to check your Google+ Business Places accounts and ensure you are within the guidelines.  The penalty?  Google will remove your business information and your business will lose precious search engine leverage.

Just because Google is asking for more quantity doesn’t minimize the importance of current and relevant information.  If you buy Google AdWords, familiarize yourself with Google’s Quality Score.  In addition, here are some basic definitions for marketers and business owners alike:

• SEO:  abbreviation for “Search Engine Optimization,”  how to appear higher in search engine results.
• Inbound Marketing:  Marketing efforts focused on getting found by customers rather than traditional marketing which is more intrusive.
• Content Marketing:  Technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract and engage an audience with the objective of driving profitable actions.

All of the above utilize blogs, social sites, websites, Press-releases, etc.  Instead of merely “selling” your products and services, you’re delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent.  Not only that, but consumers don’t respond to traditional marketing like they used to.  It takes more to catch their interest than an online banner or TV ad alone.  

Offline Mobile Advertising Terms and Applications

 Over 50% of mobile phones today are smartphones and 88% of people check their email on mobile devices daily.  56% of people who have made a mobile purchase did so as a result of a mobile marketing message.  Mobile is quickly becoming the most influential marketing platform to date!  Mobile searches related to restaurants have a conversion rate of 90% with 64% converting within the hour.  4 out of 5 consumers use smartphones to shop, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with the following terms and applications.

QR codes:  When you scan or read a QR code with your iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled Smartphone, you are linked to digital content on the web.  This content can quickly get your customers to an advertisement, coupon, educational material or a number of other functions such as e-mail, IM and SMS.

Website mobile optimization:  A mobile website is a different animal than a traditional website.  What consumers expect from a mobile website is also different because here, they are only looking for key pieces of information.  Interestingly, people have more patience with the loading time of mobile websites however, it’s best to keep content simple.  This subject deserves a blog of it’s own, so there will be more detailed information about mobile optimization in future blogs.

Mobile Applications: Top 10 for consumers.

Visual applications:  Customers use visual applications to search for product info and prices by taking a picture.  Example; find electronic ratings by scanning the label, get deals and coupons from favorite brands or watch trailers by pointing the camera at movie posters and DVD’s.  Also, there is an example of an android based  visual voicemail from T-Mobile.

Search on mobile:  Mobile search provides slightly different results than regular search.  The  mobile form allows users to find mobile content on websites which are available to mobile devices on mobile networks. 

Traditional and New Media defined for business

multi-color-leaning-tree-logo-with-rep-mgmt.jpg

Marketing and advertising experts have been accustomed to the fast-paced environment, running along-side new developments in technology and trailing audiences as they find new interests & hangouts.  Ten years ago a company could control its brand and somewhat control its image by releasing information and creating ads that supported its objective.   However, the acceleration of social media and surge of digital media outlets has changed that game.  Business owners today need to be  aware that the ‘social media conversation’ takes place with or without them.  If a business wants to have any part in the public perception of their business they must become an active participant online.  For starters, I recommend Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.   Become familiar with using and start to network within these sites by frequently posting, polling, LISTENING and responding to questions.

So much can be gained from participating in social media sites.  You’ll have access to the public perception of your business;  have an opportunity to ‘thank’ people for their positive feedback and respond to anything negative.  You’ll learn more about your audience, discover opportunties, increase organic search results, locate new platforms for advertising and plan better campaigns in the future.  There are a million more online social sites, review sites, free listings and communities out there.  I recommend doing some research regarding “where your audience is” before adding more.  Biting off more than you can chew will result in wasted time and money.  Long periods of time without online interaction will cause you to lose followers and business.  Don’t set yourself up to be overwhelmed and appear ‘unorganized and unattended-to.’  It’s always better to have a few sites that are robuts than 30 that are terrible.  I recommend finding a Marketing Strategist such as The Leaning Tree Marketing.  (Little plug-in of my own.)  Whomever you choose…may sure it’s someone you trust since they will be handling a crucial part of your business future.

Because they have been around for so long, most business owners are familiar with traditional media platforms.  However, before hiring a marketing strategist, it’s still a good idea to have a basic understanding of the two media categories and how they differ.

Traditional Media:  This is a media term used for media advertising options which have been around for many, many years such as TV, Radio, Print, and Billboards.  There was a time when you could reach a sizeable audience in these places, and with a good message, make a solid return on your investment.  Now the audiences have been split off into many directions.  Although audience size has shrunk, cost has not.  Beware of anyone who claims that any of these traditional media options ‘reach everyone’ because none of them reach ‘everyone’ anymore.  (Thanks to New and Social Media)  I’m not saying that traditional media is DEAD.  (As some will say.)  However, an ad campaign using traditional media WILL NOT perform well without the FULL integration of new digital and social media.

New Media:  This is a ‘catch-all’ term in media studies that includes Social Media.  (New generation of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies.  These can take many different forms, including lnternet forums, blogs, wikis, podcasts, as well as picture, music and video-sharing on sites such as Google+, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.)  New Media emerged in the latter part of the 20th century and can include on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content.  Internet digital text, images and video with web-links, creative participation of contributors, interactive feedback of users and formation of a participant community of editors and donors for the benefit of non-community readers.  Most technologies described as ‘new’ are digital.

How do traditional and new media MIX?  That deserves a blog of its own…