What Apple Can Teach You About Marketing | SmallFuel Marketing Apple rocks at marketing—I think that's something fanboys and haters can both agree with. From building an incredible amount of buzz, to driving fans out to buy products, to keeping repeat customers for life, they really have their act together. There are a lot of things small businesses can learn from Apple's success, and most of them easily translate from the corporate world to the small business world. The strategies that set Apple apart from its competitors are strategies that you can learn to use too. If you're lucky, you might just grow a fan club the size of Apple's. It’s important to be pretty. In all of Apple’s product lines and marketing materials, you won’t find a single thing that isn’t pretty. There are several opportunities for your small business to have great looking materials. People like big photos. A quick look at their website, and you’ll see that Apple fully believes in the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Keep your message simple.
How to Get Facebook Fans Have you ever found an easy and superior way to do something, then watched in bafflement as people insist on doing it the hard way? You will never make money on Facebook if you have the wrong fans. And the best way to get the right Facebook fans for your business is with Facebook ads. There are two main obstacles to people using Facebook Advertising: A lot of companies don’t have a budget for Facebook adsMost people don’t know how to create Facebook ads that are affordable Let’s tackle both issues… 1. Ok I’ll give you a pass if you have no budget for AdWords and no budget for print and… basically no budget for advertising. So should you spend some of your AdWords money on Facebook? Prioritizing Your Online Marketing Efforts: AdWords for the highest ROI keywords AdWords reaches a point of diminishing return. Free Facebook Fans Suck Don’t go to Facebook just because you don’t have a budget for AdWords. Yes, you can get 50 of your friends to fan your page. Cheap Fan Services? 2.
5 Subject Line Tricks that Get Your Emails Read | Speedy Mail Email... by Josh Shayne We all want our email campaigns to be read. But with the volume of messages your subscribers receive, you need to make YOUR email stand out from the rest – shining like a lighthouse beacon in a storm. No matter how great the content inside, if your email is never opened, it is almost not worth sending. Your email subject line is your bait – it must hook your reader’s attention and reel them in. Here are 5 Subject Line Writing Tricks to Get Your Emails Read: Have you ever seen a magazine headline that read something like this? How about: 15 New Movies You Absolutely, Positively Must See! Or even: 7 Seductive Secrets to Sexier Sideburns Of course you have! Stating the number of tips, ideas or thoughts grabs the reader’s attention and puts them at ease. You are promising an easy, digestible format – a numbered list. Try adding a number to your next Email Subject Line to heighten appeal. Consider the difference between these subject lines: This is a fun opportunity to be creative.
How to Make a Facebook Page for Your Small Business If you own a small business, having a Facebook page lets you reach individuals among the 750 million or so users worldwide who are most likely to be interested in your company. Your interaction on the social network gives customers the sense that they know you and your business, which can increase loyalty and make them more likely to recommend your services. On Facebook you can easily add features that are harder to implement on your website. [Also see: How to Promote and Maintain Your Facebook Business Page] The potential reach of a Facebook page is huge, as half of its users log in every day. Establishing Your Profile and Page Admins Before creating your Facebook fan page, you must establish a personal Facebook profile. Many people are nervous about mixing their personal information with their business information, but the two are conceptually separate. If you aren't going to be the only person working on your business's Facebook page, you'll need to select admins.
40 Key Emotional Drivers B-to-B prospects respond to the same key emotion drivers consumers do. In “Mail Order Strategy” (Hoke Communications, 1956), Victor Schwab compiled the following 40 key emotional drivers. People want to gain:Health PopularityPraise from othersPride of accomplishmentSelf-confidenceTimeImproved appearance ComfortAdvancement: social-businessMoneySecurity in old ageLeisureIncreased enjoymentPersonal prestige They want to save:TimeDiscomfortRisksMoneyWorryEmbarrassmentWorkDoubts They want to be:Good parentsCreativeEfficientRecognized authoritiesUp-to-dateGregarious“First” in thingsSociable, hospitableProud of their possessionsInfluential over others They want to do:Express their personalitiesSatisfy their curiosityAppreciate beautyWin others’ affectionResist domination by othersEmulate the admirable Acquire or collect thingsImprove themselves generally
How to Promote and Maintain Your Facebook Business Page Now that you've created a Facebook page for your business, you need to grow your fan base. Before getting started, however, know what your goals are. What do you want the fan page to accomplish for your business? Collecting a large number of fans is great, but you have to decide whether you're happy with exposure alone, or whether you want fans to become customers. Also see: How to Make a Facebook Business Page] Having a lot of fans may not increase sales immediately, but it should at least increase the strength of your brand through reputation management, improved customer support, and the conversion of fans into advocates. Attract People Invite Contacts and Friends to Become Fans Get started by attracting fans. You can upload a contacts file or search your email accounts for people using Facebook. Some contacts will become fans of your page, while others will ignore the request. Add a Facebook 'Like' Box I also recommend adding a Facebook "Like" box to your website. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
10 tips for writing that sells | Internet Marketing Strategy: Conversation... No matter why you have it, your web site needs to sell. You need to get visitors to do something, whether that something is ‘sign up’, ‘buy now’ or just ‘keep reading’. Here are 10 quick tips for copy persuades, sells and converts: Start by telling people why they should read. Marketing copywriting 101: You have to get folks to read before you can persuade them. That’s it. Oh, and a call to action: Buy my e-book, The Unscary, Real World Guide to SEO Copywriting. $7, and chock full o’ writing advice. Also, follow me on Quora.
How to Build a Fan-Worthy Facebook Page As Facebook continues to enhance its fan page options, businesses are not only struggling to keep up with the changes, but they also are still trying to figure out how to brand and market their pages. Because of some of the changes, strategies you used just last month to increase your "likes" and interactions with fans may not be as effective. Here are a few quick branding fixes that will make it easier for prospects to find you, as well as some tips on getting more fans--or what I prefer to call interested prospects. No.1 - Brand the URL. QR Code Resume Blows Traditional Strategy Out the Window | Creative... 1K SharesTwitter58Facebook45Google+0Pin It Share2LinkedIn36StumbleUpon8661K Flares× With our first guerrilla marketing giveaway coming to a close, I figured it would be only fitting to key into some of the strategy and concepts that the giveaway book brings to the table. Be sure to enter our guerrilla marketing giveaway that ends on April 30th! This is a prime example of Guerrilla Marketing and creative job hunting that will help you land your dream job! “I realized during my previous job search that getting an interview at a communication agency is the hardest part of the process,” says Petit. This out-the-box thinking certainly breaks the monotony of traditional resume examples. QR CODE – Content-rich Resume from Victor petit on Vimeo. via Mashable Related
@10 Facebook Marketing Mistakes to Avoid There are several third-party providers that help brands run Facebook promotions legally, and most have free trials. A few prominent ones are Wildfire, Offerpop and Buddy Media.Complete Brand Page guidelines for promotions can be found here.4. OverpostingLess is more. Facebook suggests that brands start out with one or two posts a week to feel out the platform and see what works. Not all businesses have the budget to employ Facebook Ads in their marketing arsenal. 16 Facebook Marketing Strategies There are thousands of Facebook apps, including a growing class designed for marketing use on company Facebook Pages. Here is a list of 16 different marketing strategies — using apps — that can help your ecommerce business. 1. Facebook Send button Facebook recently launched the “Send” button, which allows Fans to send your content to their friends. According to Facebook, Fans have the option to send your URL in an inbox message to their Facebook friends, to the group Wall of their Facebook groups, and as an email. 2. FriendCard is a way to increase brand visibility by offering Fans the ability to send customizable branded greeting cards to their friends directly from your Facebook Page. Each card carries your logo, so each time one is sent recipients and their friends are introduced to your brand. 3. Merchants increasingly utilize online video to showcase products. 4. Merchants who use blogs for marketing can now incorporate that content into Facebook using the following free apps. 5. 6.
@Facebook Finally Lets Page Admins Schedule Posts, Have Different Roles Third-party apps like HootSuite just got a little less relevant with an update from Facebook that lets Page admins schedule posts. A new help center page from Facebook also outlines how brand pages can now dole out specific duties to multiple page admins, each with varying degrees of permissions. The chart below outlines the new roles of manager, content creator, moderator, advertiser and insights analyst. A separate help center page from Facebook also provides an answer to one question many Facebook Page admins have been asking for some time: How do I schedule a post to appear later? The answer: Posts can be scheduled up to six months in advance at 15-minute intervals. SEE ALSO: 5 ways these new scheduling feature falls short
How to Market on Flickr | Small Business Search Marketing (Ed. note: This was originally published on June 15, 2006, as an “article” — something separate from the blog. It’s now being republished as a blog post on July 5, 2012, but with the original date intact, because I’m removing the Articles section of this blog. The facts and statistics mentioned below are from 2006 and have not been updated. As a small business owner, you’ll have to work harder and smarter on the web to compete against the likes of Big Company Widgets and Deep Pockets Doodads. Let’s look at one marketing opportunity that very few businesses are using: Flickr. What Is Flickr? Flickr is a web site owned by Yahoo! More than just being a web site, you should think of Flickr as a community — one with a very strong and active user base. How does Flickr work? A Flickr account is free. Most Flickr members are active in groups. How do I market my business on Flickr? 1.) 2.) But don’t just turn Flickr into an online catalog of your products. 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) Don’t spam. Conclusion