Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category
Thursday, January 22nd, 2015
One of the benefits—and potential downfalls—of the online environment is that it is a great equalizer. The smallest company, including solo operations, can present a “big company” feel, effectively competing against the big players in their industries. This can also present a downside, of course, for those seeking goods and services from online providers; all that glitters is not, necessarily, gold, so caveat emptor certainly applies.
Still, for small companies, and even individual practitioners in service industries like consulting, law, accounting, engineering, etc., it can be relatively easy to establish a strong presence online.
We’ve done that for our own marketing needs, and we work with a variety of other small businesses and independent consultants to help them establish a “big brand” online. In doing this, we have found some very important best practices that really must be adopted to generate results: (more…)
Tags: customer engagement, facebook, Instagram, linkedin, Pinterest, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Advertising, Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, Social Media | No Comments »
Sunday, November 9th, 2014
Measurable, reliable, quantitative data is constantly being sought after by marketers. In comparison to relatively more concrete elements of a business, such as finance and operations, marketers often feel pressure, whether real or perceived, to provide some sort of measurable return on investment for their efforts. Sure, your new website design looks great, but has it directly contributed to increased online sales? Unfortunately, for many marketing efforts, it can be difficult to convincingly tie a dollar spent on marketing to dollars earned in new business.
This pressure is evaluated in a Harvard Business Review article by Eric Ries called “Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics.” Vanity metrics, Ries explains, (more…)
Tags: marketing measurement, measuring results, metrics, SEO
Posted in Analytics, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Measurement, SEO, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 7th, 2014
There’s a big difference between data and information, although the distinction can be subtle. Over the past few years I’ve been very interested in helping organizations determine whether their communication efforts are achieving desired results and, especially, their social media efforts. Social media is such a “big deal” these days that it’s not unlikely for organizations and individuals to want to “jump on the bandwagon” or continue to participate in social media simply because “everyone else is doing it.” Unfortunately, that’s not always a good reason to invest time and resources.
The difference between data and information can be helpful here. (more…)
Tags: analytics, goals, measurement, measuring social media, objectives, Social Media
Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Social Media | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014
Digital has taken the world by storm, upending the world of traditional advertising and requiring 21st marketers to become savvy about a broad range of digital advertising options that can include anything from SEO, to social media, to mobile and more.
There’s much to understand, much to keep track of and much to stay on top of. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that digital advertising, unlike traditional advertising, is far more trackable, allowing marketers to determine what is working for them and driving the results they desire and what may not be as effective. (more…)
Tags: big data, contextualization, depth of content, digital advertising, digital marketing, location-based communication, micro-video marketing, mobile marketing, multi-platform consumption, personalization, Social Media
Posted in Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 17th, 2014
Just returned from the 6th Annual Social Media & Marketing Conference sponsored by the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce and my head is spinning. It seems that no matter how much we may all think we know a lot about social media and/or marketing, there is always so much more to learn. I learned a lot today from both the presenters and other attendees. (more…)
Tags: Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, Google Analytics, marketing conference, online measurement, Social Media
Posted in Analytics, Brand Management, Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication, PR and Media Relations, Social Media | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 8th, 2014
Social media is critical for most (but still not all) businesses these days. It is a key communication channel that allows businesses and individuals to connect with a wide audience very cost-effectively.
As a business owner I maintain both LinkedIn and Twitter accounts for myself and have used them to successfully connect with prospects, clients, the media and other audiences. I’ve gained more than one client simply through my LinkedIn profile.
As a marketing communication consultant I work with clients to develop and manage their online communications presence through content marketing and management. These activities generally involve a strategy around driving traffic from various social media activities (LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc.) to their web sites to generate some specific action, ultimately leading to a sale or new client interaction.
In my work I’ve found the keys to success to involve primarily two things: (more…)
Tags: content marketing, facebook, Google+, Instagram, likeable social media, linkedin, Pinterest, Social Media, social media marketing, twitter
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 10th, 2014
I’m a copywriter from way back and, although, my life has taken a number of twists and turns since my old copywriting days, writing has been a passion of mine for many, many years and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The thing is, much of what I learned as a professional copywriter holds true regardless of the type of writing I do: whether I’m writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement or a page or blog for a web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can be used to boost the odds that the copy will get the results I’m looking for.
Following are some tips I’ve gathered and used over the years — can you add to the list? (more…)
Tags: content management, content marketing, copywriting, copywriting tips, writing copy
Posted in Advertising, Content Marketing, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Branding, Social Media | No Comments »
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
Financial institutions are on social media. Hospitals and healthcare systems are on social media. Even law enforcement agencies are becoming engaged. While some groups have, for very good reason, been slow to adopt social media as a means of communicating with various audiences, it’s fair to say that most organizations that have an audience of some sort have found social media to be a “must do” rather than a “we need to think about it.”
But not all. (more…)
Tags: blogging, blogs, facebook, Healthcare, linkedin, Social Media, twitter, U.S. Military
Posted in Customer Communication, Social Media | No Comments »
Thursday, May 15th, 2014
LinkedIn recently added a new option for many of its members — the ability to write and publish posts that would be put before a broader audience than their own connections. If you see a little pencil icon next to the paperclip icon in the “Share an update…” box at the top of your home page, you have the ability to create and publish posts. Both my consulting profile and my freelance writing profile have these icons as do all my clients’ profiles.
So we’ve been experimenting with this option to see what kind of activity we’re able to generate.
Yesterday I posted an item on LinkedIn that I’d recently written as a blog post–“Four Little Words That Can Reveal a Lot: ‘Why Do You Ask?'”–the response has been phenomenal (at least by our standards). Last night as I was reviewing online activity for all of my accounts I noticed that I had about (more…)
Tags: content management, content marketing, linkedin, media relations, pr
Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding, PR and Media Relations, Social Media | No Comments »
Thursday, May 1st, 2014
I’m a long-time fan of LinkedIn, and LinkedIn Groups, particularly for B2B marketing. I’ve used LinkedIn and groups for myself and for my clients whose goals generally include building credibility and establishing thought leadership status. A business contact recently asked me what my “top tips” would be for participating in LinkedIn and, particularly, for participation in LinkedIn Groups–one of the big benefits of this social media platform in my opinion.
(more…)
Tags: linkedin, LinkedIn groups, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Business Development, Social Media | No Comments »
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