Tag Archives: search engine rankings

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Affordable Local Marketing Techniques

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By Liz T Jones

Effective local marketing is necessary to expand a business and increase profits. Business owners do not have to spend a ton of money to lead a successful advertising campaign. Internet presence, social media, and print media are all tools that do not cost a lot. With a few easy techniques, local businesses can easily reach hundreds of customers.

The first step is to create a website. The Internet is a very powerful marketing tool and its benefits should not be underestimated. Well-designed websites with high search engine rankings can reach thousands of people. Establishing a presence on the Internet is essential for any company to succeed in today’s technology driven world. Local business marketing should always include targeting potential customers through the Internet. Creating a website is easier and faster than most people think. The key to designing a website that will attract visitors is making it user-friendly. Include essential elements such as services or products offered, pricing, and contact information. A website should be well organized, and people must be able to find what they need easily. Hire a search engine optimization expert, so that customers can easily find it when searching for relevant keywords.

Another aspect of the Internet that can be very useful is social media. In recent years, social media websites have become very popular. Millions of people use them every day. Creating an account is easy and can provide many benefits. It is a great way to get exposure, advertise, and communicate with clients. The page should be updated often with any news or specials, and the comment option should be enabled, so that users can leave valuable feedback.

Print media can also be a successful marketing tool. Contacting local media can put the spotlight on a new or existing business and attract more customers who might not have known about it before. Press releases are another way to reach out to local residents. Another way to take advantage of media outlets is putting an advertisement in newspapers and magazines. Include any details that might get a reader’s attention such as discounts or specials.

The Internet is arguably the best way to promote a business. The number of people that can be reached through social media and a well-designed website is limitless. Contacting small media outlets is a great way to target local residents. Take advantage of local marketing tools that are readily available, create specials, and always remain professional to gain and keep a loyal following for many years to come.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information about local business marketing, please visit http://www.local-marketing.com/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_T_Jones

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2 Types of Failures in Marketing – Where Are Your Marketing Efforts Failing?

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by Jonathan Roseland

Since we have clearly identified a target demographic & demand for what she is offering we can identify her problem as a marketing failure. I explained to her that in marketing there are 2 general types of failures.

Failures of Reach The Problem: Enough people don’t know about your product. The Solution: Increase the amount of people who know about your product. Easier said than done right? I could write a book and many people have, about how to increase reach. I would start with the free ways of increasing reach – Do some strategic friend requesting into increase your social media influence – Trade email lists with a strategic partner – Do some networking, get out more! – Do some research to identify some strategic partners that can act as distribution arms of your business – Post some Craigslist ads Then move onto paid reach methods – Talk to an SEO consultant to get yourself higher in the search engine rankings – Purchase an email list – Set up a pay per click advertising on one of the major search engines, Facebook ads or online ad networks – Consider doing some media buying (online banner ads, print media, radio, TV, newspaper, magazine) You may have heard the mostly true maxim that whatever problem you have in business, you can solve it with more sales. I will cautiously paraphrase this maxim by saying, whatever problem you have in marketing, you can solve it be increasing reach, provided you are savvy enough marketer (or hire one, LIKE ME!) to only market in highest possible ROI generating way. Failures of Conversion The Problem: People who do know about your product aren’t buying it. The Solution: If you are having a problem of conversion then you need to take an introspective look at several things. – Ad copy; is your ad copy creative, articulate, and concise? You may want to consider hiring an ad copy writer – Value proposition; is your product an excellent value for the people looking for it? – Need; This is business 101… The product or service you sell should either solve a problem people have or satisfy a real need. If it doesn’t you will have to market twice as hard (and smart!) to cram it down your customers throats – Competition; Do you have a competitor out there offering a better value or with massive branding presence? – Targeting to wide; Sometimes entrepreneurs are lured into competing in big markets by 1% projections (If I can only obtain 1% market share I’ll do a zillion a year in sales!), this kind of login rarely leads to a sustainable business model. I’d recommend ‘micro niche targeting’, more info on this later. – Feedback; are you asking your customers what they think of you & your offering? – 3rd Party credibility; do you have good, legitimate testimonials along with a good reputation on the net if people Google search you? If you think you are facing a failure of conversion it’s probably a good idea to read some marketing books, follow some blogs, take a course or hire a marketing consultant.

Now sometimes marketing failures are a combination of both factors, so you may have work to do in both areas, but in most it’s one more than another.

In Connie’s case, she has great marketing materials prepared, a nice website, is really passionate about what she does & has a great product ready for consumption by large yet clear defined demographic. I think her biggest issue is with reach, she explained to me that her email, phone invite & social media circle of influence is no more than 200 people. I explained to her that in my previous business of nightlife event marketing, our digital marketing list (email, social media contacts, text marketing recipients, etc) was between 20000 – 40000 & we would only get 800-1200 heads inside a nightclub (3%-5% conversion rate). My suggestion was to increase the amount of people that hear about what she does. The strategy we use to accomplish this will be the topic of another blog.

One thing to be aware of is that different business models can have significantly different ratios on their conversion & reach rates. For example, a clothing retailer hopes to sell as close as possible to 100% of the people that walk in their doors, whereas on the other side of the spectrum an internet marketer sends an email blast to a million people about some product and a 2% conversion rate would be phenomenal. So you want to think about your business a little before you diagnose your marketing failure. The marketing team at my marketing firm, Essence of Design(www.denvermarketingfirm.com), is always happy to provide a free consultation.

About the Author

THE INVENTOR OF THE MOST CLEVER COCKTAIL TOAST EVER, AMONG OTHER THINGS…

Entrepreneur, Raconteur, Host of epic parties, Student of success, Marketer, Break dancer, An experiencer of some epic failures & successes