Marketing

Are you a business owner? Listen up! Today, it is ESSENTIAL you have a concrete online marketing plan…and I’m here to show you how. Don’t worry, I’m not going to bury you in techy lingo, like “hits, bandwidth, and servers.” This article is your non-technical, business-owner friendly introduction to Internet marketing.

The goal of any good marketing plan is to generate business. A good Internet marketing plan should do the same. The website, while not the only piece of your online strategy, is the hub in the wheel of your Internet strategy.

A good website must generate at least one of the following: sales, leads, or customer support. Unfortunately, most people view a website as an online billboard or virtual pamphlet. A good website DOES something. Let me reiterate: A good website MUST generate sales, leads, or support for an existing group. Otherwise, in my opinion, you are wasting your money. (more…)

Let’s face it: people don’t get too excited about the idea of taking an online survey.

They may not have the time, they’re distracted by their to-do list, or they simply don’t see it in their inbox. Whatever the reason, it’s your job to get the customer feedback you need to improve your product or service.

Here are 6 easy-to-implement tips to entice your customers and members to improve your survey response rate.

1. Make your survey as short as possible

Think through your survey carefully. Only include the questions you absolutely must have the answers to—5-10 questions is the sweet spot. One way to do this is to choose a specific survey topic, like a particular event or promotion, and focus on that. (more…)

With the hype surrounding social media and digital marketing, you might be surprised to know that the old-fashioned direct mail piece will bring in more new customers than an email will.

Yes, it’s true. As shocking as it sounds, two to three times as many 18-34 year olds preferred to receive marketing information from offline sources, such as direct mail, according to a recent survey by ICOM, a division of Epsilon. Although it may save you a little money, ignoring traditional strategies may result in reaching fewer prospects and, in turn, achieving fewer sales.

Here are three tips to contemplate while crafting your direct mail strategy.

1. Have realistic expectations. If you mail out a special offer to 1,000 homes in your area, how many people do you expect to show up, offer in hand? If you answered “hundreds,” you will be disappointed. “Dozens” is far closer to the truth. Although the rates vary by industry (retail industries fair the best), the Direct Marketing Association reports the average response rate is 3.4 percent. (more…)

Are you considering getting into local deals (also known as daily deals), or just want to brush up on the basics before you set up your next offer? Here are three things you need to make sure you have from a vendor before running a deal that will help put your business on the path to success:

– Control over the details of the deal

– An easy way to measure the deal’s success

– Ability to engage with customers AFTER they’ve taken the deal

Let’s take a closer look at why these three things are so important.

1. Establishing control

Traditionally, many deal providers dictate the terms of your deal. Good for them, but not always good for you. When you have full control over your deal, you get to decide what works for your business. This means you can: (more…)

Putting the final touches on your latest promotion, invitation or newsletter? Here are three simple rules of thumb to make sure your emails look great before they go out the door.

1. Make it yours

No matter why you are emailing, your audience needs to know that the message is coming from you. Recognition not only helps you keep down spam complaints, but if you are trying to make a brand for yourself, it’s extra important. So, make sure that you:

Include your logo. Take the time to put it at the top of your email and resize it to make it fit appropriately.

Match your colors. Whether it’s the colors in your logo or the colors on your webpage, you should make sure that the color scheme remains consistent. (more…)