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One of the toughest aspects of growing a business is marketing. Here are some of the most effective trends that will maximize your marketing and productivity.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media is now a very essential part of doing business and is the mainstream for online marketing by becoming one of the most powerful tools ever. The ideas highlighted in this list can make your marketing experience worthwhile. Research and narrow down your audience to develop a strategy for a target market. Post content regularly. In other words, don't just drop in on your pages from time to time. You can actually create your own relevant and engaging content that will be able to follow media trends. Learn all of the Social Media lingo. It's hard to appeal to people if you don't understand them. Learn the ins and outs of this strange and short language. You should know that YW means You're Welcome, TTYL means Talk To You Later, and LOL means Laughing Out Loud. Once you get these basics established, find a cause or group to support. The support doesn't always have to be financial. You can use their content on your page, post a link of their site, or use their blogs or messages to add to your posts. Many people support those that support others. Either way, keep your posts going.
You may need a little help turning your Social Media traffic and fans into actual paying customers. So many people are focused on getting more & more fans, but the truth is that the most important factor is turning your fans into customers. It's a pretty straight-forward and understandable concept, but the problem lies in knowing how to do get that done. Even though there is an endless amount of potential customers on sites, most people don't know the simple steps to get someone from their fan page to their website. The good news is that information is now finally available and the even better news is that it's being brought to us by leading experts in online marketing! If you are not getting more business than you can handle, these services can be a huge benefit.
Cloud Computing
The world's leading corporations have tuned into the problems that consumers have with purchasing and maintaining software. Sometimes we simply cannot keep up. We spend sometimes as much one month's rent to purchase software that's designed to make our businesses run more efficiently and increase productivity. Imagine supplying several computers with a software suite! That could be pretty costly. The other issues involve usability. Sometimes there are issues if the software is outdated or simply put, too old. We do have to keep up with trends but sometimes you can use the same program for years. Another issue is that we have to keep up with our competitor's and technological trends to continue comfortably. With new software versions entering yearly we can sometimes incur very high expenses. For years, Adobe Photoshop was one of the top Graphic Design software but wasn't easily accessible to Freelancers and very small businesses. The cost was between $899 to $1200. Many companies would simply use one version for several years. Some companies would have to update software with several licenses for their many computer systems.
There is now a solution, Cloud Computing. Wikipedia describes Cloud Computing as a colloquial expression used to describe a variety of different types of computing concepts that involve a large number of computers connected through a real-time communication network. Basically, remote servers owned by various companies run all software from Email programs to complex Developer software online. Now you can pay a monthly premium to use the software of your choice. Many companies are now using Cloud computing apps and software such as Adobe Cloud Suite and Microsoft Office 365 to pay a monthly or yearly subscription for all of the software that you need. Some of the services are as low as $9.99 per month. The only software you would need is whatever the Cloud uses as its User Interface. These online software options are available for: App Development, Finance, MultiMedia, Design, Marketing, and more.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO
Many websites are not properly optimized. With any business, a website needs to bring in potential customers by clearly showing them relevant products and services and be able to complete transactions. Running a website that is not properly optimized is equated to running a store with no sign and everyone knows that "a business with no sign, is a sign of no business"! You should update your homepage content regularly. Search engines use a “spider” that determines where a website ranks. The spider is programmed to visit updated sites more often.
It’s important to keep in mind that SEO automation takes some time. Once you make the necessary improvements to optimize your site, search engine 'spiders' are not likely to recognize them immediately. Google AdWords is an easy online marketing program. Ad campaigns are easy to set up and can fit into almost any marketing budget. It is one of the best solutions for small businesses because of its pricing, flexibility, and user control. You can create ads that target specific markets or products, set your daily maximum spending budget and see your ads live within hours. Add keyword rich content that is useful, interesting, and sometimes entertaining. If your site contains information captivates your visitors, they are likely to share it with friends. They may post a link to their Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages! That's free advertising!
Mobile Marketing(1).jpg)
Mobile marketing is marketing and advertising that is viewed or received on or with a mobile device, such as a Tablet, Laptop, E-Reader, or Smart Phone . There are several ways to advertise in this form. The options include: SMS (Short Message Service) or Text Message, MMS (Multimedia Message Service) which is Video, Slideshow, and Photo Messaging, App Ads which are ads placed within Mobile Apps, In-Game Ads which appear before during and after many games, and many more. Almost all of these types used proximity based and location based services to determine ad execution. Because of this, Mobile Marketing is more specifically targeted by implementing user based media. GPS and GSM tracking, along with other location services allow companies a more effective vehicle for monitoring specific needs of potential clients.
Although significantly more popular than ever, some mobile advertising campaigns and tactics are being scrutinized. When a mass text is sent without a required permission from the consumer, it causes privacy violations and is considered spam. There have been several suits involving companies such as LuckyBrand, PapaJohns, and T-Mobile. There is currently a Class Action lawsuit for all Text Spam. See topclassactions.com for more information about the current suit. Marketing campaigns have to manage their projects making sure to preserve privacy. GPS services which are pretty much a significant component to every mobile device, plays an important role in location-based marketing.
Social Accountability
There are many ways to do your part in making your environment safer and more efficient. Your company's involvement in Social or environmental causes can make a huge difference in profitability. Of course your involvement needs to be completely legitimate but the fact is, consumers love it. Your level of 'care' is measured by your level of comittment in certain projects and programs. Some of the most common are Employee Advocacy, Environmental Stewardship, Community Involvement, Wellness, and Education.
We love to see that a company is donating a percentage of profits to a cause that is saving a rare plant, or reviving a lost tribe, or building an orphanage, etc. Some companies even offer Social Responsibility or Social Accountability training for the employees. It is an important factor in business. One of the easiest and trouble free ways to get involved is, find a cause and post some of their links and fundraisers on your pages. The fact that our patronage of your products and services are contributing to the greater good is something that feels like a win win. Be open about your involvement is such projects and you are sure to get more customers.
(www.examiner.com)