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THE WINNING ADVANTAGE eZINE
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Published by Earl Savage
ES World Marketing
http://esworldmarketing.com/blog/wp/
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In This Issue:
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1. Message from the Publisher
2. Feature Article – “Social Media Marketing – Don’t Make These 3 Mistakes”
by Enzo F. Cesario
3. Free Ads
4. Bonus Article – “3 Key Points in Online Marketing to Avoid Tanking Your Results”
by Paul Marshall
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=>>Free Classified Advertising – The Winning AdVantage Classifieds
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Dear reader,
Welcome and Thanks!
As always, I hope you’ll enjoy and profit from reading
“The Winning AdVantage”. Please feel free to post your
comments at the bottom of this blog post. I welcome your feedback.
Earl Savage, Publisher
The Winning AdVantage eZine
winning@esworldmarketing.com
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=>> Feature Article
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Social Media Marketing – Don’t Make These 3 Mistakes
Copyright (c) 2009 Enzo F. Cesario
BrandSplat
http://www.Brandsplat.com/
The Cluetrain Manifesto asserts that “Markets are
Conversations.” The Manifesto is a document published in 1999
and 10 years later is still considered to be an outstanding
treatise on the Internet phenomenon – in regards to the impact
and opportunities of Internet and web technology on the modern
businessman. Nowhere has this assertion been borne out more than
in the complex, fascinating world of Social Media Marketing
(SMM).
What is Social Media Marketing?
Any definition of SMM requires an understanding of social media
networks. These are any community-oriented networks based on
user-generated content. For example, YouTube’s primary focus is
the hosting of user-generated videos, not the promotion of the
parent company’s products. Social media networks include
Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and many others.
SMM therefore is the use of these networks to promote and market
products, services, or information to the promoter’s intended
audience. This could be a traditional product seeking a market,
such as an author promoting a new novel. Or it could be something
much bigger; the US Presidential campaign of 2008 brought Twitter
into the spotlight as a way for the candidates to quickly
transmit a message to their audience, keeping them updated on
happenings on the trail. In the latter case, no tangible product
was being promoted per se, but it was a means of marketing the
candidates and their messages. Twitter exploded in popularity
following the election, and remains a current topic of
discussion.
The intelligent business strategy will seek to understand these
opportunities, and reach out to the social media markets
available, in order to directly reach their customers. SMM has as
many pitfalls as opportunities, however. Several politicians have
had their tweets made public, and have regretted it. Here are
some easy mistakes to make and how to avoid them.
Mistake #1 – Not Having A Blog
Everyone has a blog. While this may not be true in fact, it
certainly is true in perception. Free services such as WordPress
and Blogspot allow anyone with a connection to have a voice in an
organized and attractive form. Twitter, Facebook, and other
networks are useful, but they aren’t directly under a user’s
control. A blog, however, is, and the savvy marketer will take
advantage of that. In a blog, a user can post their thoughts,
analysis, and arguments with very little restraint and go into
greater detail than most social networks permit. For example,
Twitter only allows posts of 140 characters, which is certainly
too small for a product description or a dissection of a major
political speech. However a short ‘tweet’ telling book fans
that their favorite author has been interviewed by a blog will
bring people flocking to the site where they will not only read
the interview, but probably the many other articles on the site
as well.
This of course means that good blogging is consistent blogging. A
blog can’t be neglected and only updated when big things happen
- the modern attention span of Internet users is fairly short.
Bloggers need to consistently post good content in order to keep
drawing in their intended audience; not month by month but
sometimes even day by day.
Mistake #2 – Not Branding Yourself
The web is an information explosion and getting anyone to notice
a product or a company consistently is a challenge. The savvy web
marketer must take advantage of the chance to brand their name
with every networking opportunity. If a company has a blog and a
product website, they must be connected. The blog must promote
the site’s main goal, and the site must refer visitors to their
excellent blog content. Posts to social networking sites should
refer to this ‘brand’ image, and keep the message consistent
across them all. The successful SMM campaign will treat each
element as a unified whole, and approach them systematically.
Every Twitter message, every Facebook post should remind users
who is posting the content, and where they can find more.
Mistake #3 – Not Being Nice
As mentioned above, “Markets are Conversations.” The users on
the Internet are not robots. They will respond with a
pre-programmed action when a certain combination of criteria is
applied. They are people with ideas who think critically, and who
have become accustomed to having their say. While a marketer must
take every opportunity to promote their message, this does not
mean forcing it into every single conversation. Participants on
social networking sites will quickly identify the more ham-fisted
efforts of some marketers, and let their acquaintances know of
their displeasure. A bad reputation can spread quickly on the
Internet – a certain St. Louis police officer lost his job when a
video of the officer abusing his authority was posted to Google.
So the proper tactic is not to view these markets as simple
places to advertise, but places to converse. Simply popping onto
Facebook and posting a new product to every available group is a
quick way to get noticed, and disregarded as incompetent. On the
other hand, a user could join several groups with discussions
pertaining to the subject of their personal passions, and
cultivate friendships and a reputation as a quality commentator.
Then, when they refer folks to their blog, they are more likely
to be taken seriously. Simple courtesy and respect for the groups
can go a long way to securing a few more hits per post.
In essence, SMM requires thought, persistence, and critical
thinking just as any other marketing campaign. It is not a short
series of clever commercials that can be aired for several months
at a time, but a means of consistently communicating, day in and
day out, with a target audience. Good SMM must provide constant,
consistent content for its target markets and be prepared to
participate in a lot of give-and-take with an audience uniquely
suited to making their voices heard.
———————————————————————
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat.
Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art
internet distribution and optimization to build links and
drive the right kind of traffic to your website. Go to
http://www.Brandsplat.com/ or visit our blog at:
http://www.brandsplatblog.com/
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=>> Bonus Article
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3 Key Points in Online Marketing to Avoid Tanking Your Results
Copyright (c) 2009 Paul Marshall
Strategic Web Marketing Net
http://strategicweb
With all the changes in Google AdWords and the increased
competition these days, organic SEO looks more and more
attractive to most of us.
The key is for your website optimization to out-perform your
competition, without over spending with an online marketing
consultant (or without taking up too much of your time if you’re
going the do-it-yourself route).
Remember, affordable Search Engine Optimization is about
increasing quality traffic, then * converting * that traffic to a
sale or a sales lead.
If you miss these points I describe below, your SEO goals of
increased conversions will tank, even if you have a Number 1
Google Ranking.
I often notice these missed areas when I’m Coaching a business
owner about their Web site and their need to increase sales and
sales leads.
So, here are 3 points for you to review that I hope will help
your SEO goals of increased conversions.
What’s Above the Fold Counts Most, so Consider Monitor
Resolutions
Living in the world of TV remote controls and browser back
buttons, we have to capture our website visitors’ attention
ASAP. Our visitors aren’t going to give us much time before
making a decision to stay or to leave our website.
As much as this subject is discussed these days, it’s amazing
the number of sites I review that have critical information
missing from “above the fold”, in that area visible before your
visitors scroll down.
This is the area to briefly summarize what people can do on your
site and make your best case for your guests staying on your
website and not clicking away. This may also be the area to place
your contact information.
Keep in mind that what’s above the fold on your monitor will
likely be different from what’s above the fold on the monitor
for someone visiting your website. Browser resolution is set
differently for various computers.
For instance, on my website, I know the top resolution of my
visitors is 1280 by 1024 (53%) and the second most popular
resolution is 1024 by 768 (37%). I get this information from my
site’s analytics script, although not all analytics programs
provide this critical information.
Since I make sure my site looks great for these 90% of my
visitors and make sure I communicate reasons to stay on my site
above the fold (my value proposition)
site, encouraging them to scroll down.
Remember to cross test your site with recent versions of the most
popular Web browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and
maybe even Google’s new Chrome.
These steps raise my conversion rate and they will raise yours,
too. And increasing traffic and conversions is the whole point of
affordable search engine optimization, whether using an online
marketing consultant or d-i-y, right?
So, don’t miss this important step.
Carefully Select Your Type Size and Font and Remember that White
Space is Your Friend
I’m astounded by the improper text choices made by so many
website owners today. Is there really any good reason to make
people squint at your website, struggling to get the information
they need?
Consider reviewing The Easy to Read Standard at Information
Architects (you can Google it). I would encourage you to review
the size of your text, the white space between your letters and
words and between your paragraphs and headings.
Designers often believe whitespace is your enemy; if you want
people to understand your message and stay on your website,
whitespace is in fact your friend. 
Also consider that fonts with serifs are easier to read than
fonts without serifs.
If you want to successfully convey your message to as many of
your site visitors as possible, then make it as easy for them as
you can. When we’re talking about increasing conversions, it’s
all about the numbers and appealing to the largest number of
people possible.
Use Opt-in Email or Blog Postings to Maximize Your Sales
All website owners would like for people to buy from their
website the first time they visit. But is that realistic?
Consider these statics from the National Sales Executive
Association:
* 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact; * 3% of sales are
made on the 2nd contact; * 5% of sales are made on the 3rd
contact; * 10% of sales are made on the 4th contact (and) * 80%
of sales are made on the 5th – 12th contact.
For most businesses, if you don’t offer an opt-in contact, like
a regular email newsletter or blog postings, you’re missing out
on most of your potential sales!
When setting up an opt-in Internet marketing campaign, you should
offer incentives to subscribe. To entice people to opt-in, you
can offer:
* special pricing for email list members * a first look at new
products * ability for customer to select subjects and emails
they receive (controlling the frequency of contact by choosing
which of your lists to be on) * promise not to share email or
other personal info with other companies
Using opt-in contact allows you to significantly increase
conversions by introducing yourself over time to your potential
customers, in a soft-sell manner.
Website optimization is important; the goal is increased Internet
traffic, sales and sales leads. But whether you’ve hired an
online marketing consultant or you’re doing the process
yourself, Affordable search engine optimization by itself
doesn’t accomplish those last points of increased sales and
sales leads.
You’ve got to remember to design your website to alleviate
visitors natural apprehensions and make buying from you as easy
as possible.
Properly mapping out the above the fold area of your Web pages,
using appropriate size text, using adequate whitespace and
offering an opt-in process to nurture your buyers will all help
you accomplish the real goals you have with SEO and website
optimization: increased sales and more sales leads.
————
Marketing online since 2004, Paul Marshall can help you market
on a budget. You can learn about his affordable Internet
Marketing Coaching and Consulting Services on his home page:
http://strategicweb
services (and d-i-y Coaching), which you can learn about here:
http://strategicweb
about Paul on his LinkedIn profile:
http://www.linkedin
Strategic Web Marketing.net.
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That’s all for this time – thanks for reading!
To contact us, go to:
http://www.esworldmarketing.com/contactus.html
Your success is our success!
ES World Marketing
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=>> OUR MISSION
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The Winning AdVantage, we are devoted to helping our subscribers
develop their marketing skills and promote their home-based Internet
marketing businesses and affiliate opportunities. This publication
features tips, techniques and how-to articles on such topics as ad copy
writing, finding good FRËË or inexpensive places to post ads, finding the
best available resources, and other issues related to making money on
the Internet. The Winning AdVantage eZine is dedicated to the
enhancement of your home-based Internet marketing business success.
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Copyright 2001-2009 The Winning AdVantage. Ezine All rights reserved.
The Winning AdVantage is a publication of ES World Marketing.
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