Posts Tagged ‘web marketing’
Many companies are including customer testimonials and commentary on their websites to increase credibility and encourage customers to make purchases. However, is it possible that even bad reviews can help your sales?
Case Study
According to an article by Jennifer Alsever on CNNmoney.com: Jim Hobart, a co-founder of the online store AlpacaDirect.com, introduced a section on his website that allows shoppers to write their own product reviews right there on that website.
“It was a risky move for the four-year-old company, based in Brentwood, Calif. Hobart was effectively paying to host bad press — such as posts by customers who described AlpacaDirect’s golf cardigan as ‘kinda sweaty’ and a ‘poor fit.’ Both awarded the cardigan three out of a possible five stars,” Alsever said.
However, after only a month of hosting reviews, positive and negative alike, Hobart reported an increase in sales by 23% on items that had customer reviews (even that cardigan, which gained an average of four stars!).
How will this work for my business?
Because e-commerce is now in the hands of the customer and the reviews of their peers, it is growing more sophisticated, personal, and credible. By encouraging conversation about your business as much as possible, including on social media networks, you increase your chance of growing in sales.
“Consumers are becoming used to searching for reviews when they shop online. Internet shoppers rank reviews as the most desired feature of a Web site, according to a recent survey by Forrester Research. ‘People want to talk among themselves,’ says Jacqueline Anderson, a senior consultant at Forrester,” Alsever said.
So take the risk and encourage your customers to write reviews and give you feedback after purchasing your product. Negative or positive, it will reinforce the idea that your product is popular and in demand, and people are buying it. Ask for honest answers from the social media networks you belong to, a little conversation can go a long way.
The Creative Campaign
Due to the overwhelming number of Tweets popping up all over Twitter discussing the hilarity of the new Old Spice commercial, the shirtless Old Spice Man is shooting YouTube videos responding to people’s Tweets.
The Old Spice Man has even made videos responding to Tweets from very famous people with huge followings, such as Kevin Rose, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Justine Bateman.
This social media ad campaign has had tremendous success because Old Spice is diving right into the social media scene and interacting with audience members. If you think about it, it’s a genius idea. How would you feel if a commercial spokesperson made a video responding directly to your Tweet?
There are already over 100 customized Old Spice video responses on YouTube, each are highly targeted toward a single individual. The social media interaction that Old Spice is expounding upon, can be called one of the most creative and interesting marketing strategies we’ve seen in a long time.
By harnessing the power of social media sites like Twitter and YouTube, Old Spice has spread explosively across the viral marketing network.
Here is an example of the conversation between Kevin Rose, CEO of Digg, and the Old Spice Man by way of Kevin Rose’s Tweets and the Old Spice Man’s video responses.
Kevin Rose:
Old Spice Man:
Kevin Rose:
Old Spice Man:
Because of these videos, thousands of people are Re-Tweeting conversations about Old Spice and searching the web for the YouTube videos. Old Spice’s creative campaign may have been entertaining for us viewers, but the viral marketing that resulted from the customized videos will certainly do well for Old Spice.
Why does this work?
People love public recognition. If you single out and thank a particular client or customer in the public eye, you will undoubtedly gain that client’s loyalty. Which brings me to the point, how long will the Old Spice Man continue to make personalized videos tailoring to each individual audience member? Hopefully a little longer, because these videos are hilarious.
How to Secure Your Online Business
Posted on: June 11, 2010
According to the Wall Street Journal AT&T’s new phenomenon, the iPad, recently suffered an astronomical security breach. A hacker group, calling themselves Goatse Security gained access to the private details and email addresses of nearly 114,000 early purchasers of the iPad. People such as the New York Times’ chief executive Janet Robinson and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel were exposed.
The hackers were actually able to gain access to this information through a script they located on AT&T’s website. The script automatically returns email address in conjunction with each iPad ID Number. The iPad ID Numbers were simply guesses made by the hacker group.
The gaping hole in AT&T’s security was reported to be closed, but not before it exposed several military accounts.
Security online is a huge issue. In order to maintain a strong online business presence, you must be properly equipped and safe. Many people are scared to buy online and you must be able to reassure your web-based customers that your online business practices online are secure and credible.
Make sure you’re safe
Make your online business credible and trustworthy. You want to be able to implement your online marketing strategy efficiently, so you must make yourself safe and secure in order to move forward. Apple will probably lose very valuable customers due to the vulnerabilities the hackers were able to find. They must quickly implement an internet marketing strategy to cover their bases.
Have a security seal
You may already have an SSL system, or Secure Sockets Layer (encryption to provide security for communications), but these still have potential loopholes. Merchant accounts are a little safer since in the future, they will all be requiring PCI Security Standards Council compliance. The PCI data security standard is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures. You can promote the credibility of your security seal in your internet marketing strategy.
Use Trust Guard
Trust Guard is a third party verifying system that not only help you recognize certain issues, but they provide you with a seal that enhances your visible credibility.
Trust Guard services include:
- Low prices
- Vulnerability Scanning
- PCI Scanning
- Privacy Policy Generator
- Security Seals
- Business Seals
- Privacy Seal
People treat Facebook as an authentic part of their lives, so by usingFacebook as an addition to your online marketing strategy, you can besure you are connecting with real people with real interest in yourproducts.
Why Advertise on Facebook?
- Reach over 400,000,000 active Facebook users
- Attach social actions to your ads to increase relevance and credibility
- Create demands for your product with relevant ads
- Quick and simple image and text-based ads
- Advertise your own web page or event
- Choose to pay per click (CPC) or impression (CPM)
- Track your progress with real-time reporting
- Gain insight about who’s clicking your ad
- Make modifications to maximize your results
What you’ll need
Link – choose whether you would want to advertise your own web page or something already existing on Facebook like a Fan Page, Application, Group, or Event
Ad content – write a clear ad targeting your specific audience, title can have a maximum of 25 characters, the body has a maximum of 135 characters
Photo – use an attractive, appropriate, and relevant image. The dimensions are 110px wide by 80px high.
The Steps
1. Get Started
- Click on Advertising on the bottom menu of Facebook.
- Click Create an Ad
2. Design Your Ad
- Use a creative title for your ad (25 characters max). Use effective wording for the body content (135 characters max). You will be able to see a preview
- Upload a photo or image (optional)
- Write in your website URL or choose your Page from the dropdown menu
3. Targeting
- Choose your target Location
- Choose your target Demographics: Age, Birthdays, Sex, Interests, Relationship status, Language
- Choose a target Likes & Interests
- Choose a target Education & Work status
*Note a box on the side will show you your estimated reach depending on the options you choose
4. Campaign and Pricing
- Select your Account Currency (ex. US Dollars – USD)
- Select your Account Time Zone
- Write your Campaign Name
- Select your Daily Budget, or the most you want to spend per day
- Select your Ad Schedule, you can choose between running it continuously or only on specific dates
- Choose your Payment, whether you pay for clicks (CPC) or impressions (CPM) and how much you are willing to pay per click. The minimum is $0.01
5. Review your Ad
- Login to Facebook when prompted
- Review your ad
- Enter your payment information
- Place an order
5 Tips to Network Online Like a Pro
Posted on: June 4, 2010
Social media is big. We don’t need to hear it twice. It is becoming the most important web-based tool to increase sales in online business and to expand socially. But how do we use social media and social networking sites to our advantage?
There are so many sites to choose from, so many ways to design a site, and so many mistakes we can make online. So what do we do?
It’s so simple! Use many different websites, but use each one to its fullest potential, respectively.
Use your Facebook and Twitter to build better relationships. Use your WordPress and LiveJournal to blog about your business and give releases to people who want more information. Take advantage of programs like LinkedIn, APSense, and Plaxo to organize your business networks and relationships.
Eventually, you may need a social media platform to help you manage everything from one place.
Use these tips to network online like a pro:
1. Tell Me About Yourself
Having an online presence means you get full control over the content you publish. Customize your websites and define who you are online. Be authentic and make people want to be associated with you. You are in control.
2. Make Friends
You have an unlimited amount of space to network. You are not limited by location, culture, language, finances, or really anything. Social media gives you an unprecedented amount of freedom to build your network, so do it! Request friends on Facebook, follow people on twitter, add contacts to your APSense, it’s all at your fingertips.
3. Explore
Each website has different forums, boards, and applications that all pertain to certain interests. If you are a running shoe business, go post some discussion topics at a forum that discusses the coolest places to run trails. People connect through common interests and it’s important to express those interests to reach people on a personal level.
4. Be Real
The difficult part of exposing who you are online can be the very fact that anyone has access to the information your publish. So be authentic. Don’t plagiarize, and don’t be facetious. Everything that goes online, stays online, so don’t post anything you might regret. Be cognizant of your internet actions.
5. Invest Time
The most important part of maximizing the use of your social media sites is the fact that you have access to them all the time. You should constantly update your profiles to give your audience a sense of participation. You cannot just exist in your network, you need to contribute value to your network.
Social Media Shopping Carts
Posted on: June 2, 2010
The idea of using a social media platform to help your business has been exploding all over the online marketplace. However, social media has been a tool to simply market your business, but things are beginning to push forward from that standpoint.
Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday on how merchants are pushing sales through social media. It discusses the new innovative technique of actually adding shopping-cart apps to fan pages in order to sell products and services.
This direct e-commerce platform may actually significantly increase traffic and sales if the social networking page has a steady number of fans or followers. More fans makes a business seem in demand, which increases the chances that a consumer will make a purchase.
The downside of having an e-commerce platform in addition to your Facebook marketing strategy is the cost. You have to actually invest money to market your product, make people aware of your page’s existence, and your audience’s ability to purchase directly from your page.
Adding shopping cart applications to your Facebook page will also cost money. The applications will most likely charge a monthly fee depending on the size of your online store.
Also, the domain, like Facebook or Myspace, may actually take a percentage cut of sales.
The other frightening possibility that comes with social media e-commerce is the likelihood of negative viral marketing. Hypothetically if a purchaser was dissatisfied with your product, he or she could very well bash your product to the masses. Such is the beast of ease of social networking.
Even PayPal launched a widget that allows users to embed PayPal storefronts into blogs, sites, profiles, or anywhere else really. Shoppers can choose items from the widget and add it to a shopping cart. They checkout using PayPal, which makes it really simple to sell from Myspace or Facebook pages.
Why We Webinar
Posted on: June 1, 2010
What is a Webinar?
As the name implies, a webinar is a one-way seminar conducted on the web. The functionality and demand of webinars are increasing significantly. Companies employ the use of webinars to conduct presentations to their employees, clients, and prospects.
They can include polling and question/answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. In some sessions, the presenter may speak over telephone while discussing information onscreen. The audience can tune in using their own telephones.
A webinar can also be a powerful tool you can use to help your online marketing strategy.
Why YOU Should Webinar
Using webinars are fast, easy, low-cost, and effective. It is a revolutionary tool used to connect a presenter, an audience, and a subject. The advantages of using webinars include:
- Receive valuable and useful information in a fun, convenient, low-cost and flexible way
- Distance is not a barrier, all you need is a computer, internet access, and a telephone
- Allows the presenter to combine audio with an online visual presentation
- Allows the presenter to structure and pre-design the presentation content
- Gives the audience an easy flexible way to participate and ask questions
Features
- Slide show presentations
- Live or Streaming video
- VoIP (Real time audio communication through the computer with headphones and speakers)
- Web tours – URLs, cookies, scripts, and other important information provided to audience
- On-demand replay and event recording
- Whiteboard with annotation – allows attendees to highlight or mark items on slides
- Text Chat – for live question and answer sessions, can be to the whole group, or private
- Polls and surveys – allows presenter to conduct questions with multiple choice answers for audience members
There are several sites out there that provide fast and easy ways to design and set up your own online meetings and webinars.
Check out some of these websites:
GoToMeeting / GoToWebinar
Want your online business to succeed? There are several ways to enhance your online presence and make the Internet work for YOU. Use these tools and resources to your advantage to get the most from your website.
Take a Course
Online education is a phenomenon that is exploding all over the world. Online education is the fundamental solution for those who either experiences challenges in a classroom setting, or cannot physically be in a particular location at a particular time.
Those who wish to achieve personal goals regardless of whether it’s a Bachelor’s Degree, a Masters Degree, or even a MBA, web based courses can provide you the tools and resources to study from home…or wherever. Online education is often customized to fit the needs of the student, which will heighten the learning experience.
Education can increase your self esteem, available opportunities, and set of skills that can help you excel in school, business, and in life.
How it will Help your Business
In terms of business, there are limitless amounts of resources online you can take advantage of to enhance your knowledge and experience. If you want to succeed in business online, check out some of these websites:
My Own Business, Inc. – a nonprofit organization committed to helping people succeed in business. This course is presented by successful business owners who point out the common, available mistakes.
Small Business Online Course – through the Distance Learning College Guide, create a successful small business online in just 12 weeks http://www.distance-learning-college-guide.com/small-business-online-course.html
Learnthat – offers free web based training to users of all levels. It includes a wide range of courses, tutorials, and resources for anything from computers to business to just plain fun topics. They also offer personal tutoring, course design, and website consulting.
MarketingTips – a “business start-up” resource site designed to help individuals earn money online with their own lucrative website. Their teaching resources (online courses, software, personal training programs) and business experts will show you how easily you can make money on the Internet.
Furthering your education will only help you succeed later on in your online business. The only way to have an advantage over the other lucrative websites out there is to know the ins and outs of your web based business.
5 Tips to Succeed in Online Business
Posted on: May 26, 2010
In order to have a significant online presence, you need to design your website for your customers. Succeeding online is all about generating traffic and building relationships with existing customers. You must design your website in a way that makes your customers want to spend time browsing through.
1. Keep It Simple
No matter how beautiful or fancy a professional website might be, it must be user friendly and functional. Don’t fall for fancy layouts and pretty buttons. You could get trapped into paying a web designer painful amounts of money to make changes every month for a website that isn’t even seeing returns.
2. Have A Purpose
Are you selling a product? Are you giving information? Are you trying to attract more customer traffic? Are you trying to do all of these things? Your website should be designed specifically to fulfill your purpose online. If you sell kitchen supplies, but you also want exposure, you should include articles and links to popular recipes and suggestions. Another approach is keeping it simple. If you have a product, make it easy to purchase, without any extra noise.
3. Have A Call To Action
By having a full and complex website, you might not be able to retain your visitors attention. Be sure to have an option to actually do something (sign up for a membership or newsletter, purchase a product, view pictures), so your visitor isn’t overwhelmed by information he or she may not be interested in.
4. Know Your Audience
As any advertising or marketing tactician would advise, your most important strategy is to target your audience. Understand your audience’s demographics, some of these categories might include:
- Gender
- Age
- Education
- Income level
- Children or no children
- Buying habits
Compile all of this information and design your advertising or marketing plan to specifically cater to this demographic.
5. Get Feedback
If you design your website to get your customer’s name or email addresses, you have a way to contact them again to send them relevant information about your business, promotions, or offers, etc. It is also a way to give your customers an option to provide testimonials, or feedback, which can establish relationships and build brand loyalty. Having Repeat customers can be your biggest asset. A simple way of doing this is having a social media platform, where you can connect with your customers through sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Join the Social Media Revolution
Posted on: May 25, 2010
Social Media is growing at an astounding rate. Social media is clearly connecting the globe in ways we couldn’t dream of twenty years ago. Couples meet and get married online. Students earn their degrees online. People succeed in business online.
These technological advances are at a point where interaction through social media has become a complete norm. Platforms and online communities have almost completely replaced e-mail. Online marketing has become the foothold for marketing and advertising strategists. Those who are digitally illiterate are becoming more and more isolated.
Technology is not even limited to the younger generations. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 50-65 year old women. This explosion of technological growth is becoming a watering-hole for advertisers and online marketers. Social Media allows consumers to customize their advertising consumption. It puts the power to choose advertising content in the consumer’s hands. This is a power our society never expected to behold.
Social Media has paved the way for viral marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and exponential growth in audience feedback and interaction. The use of Web 2.0 tools and open-source software are becoming vital in business settings.
The video below demonstrates the impossible feats the Social Media Revolution has accomplished at an accelerated rate.
The Social Media Revolution
The Social Media Revolution is tremendously enhancing relationships, education, business, communication, available information, health and wellness, public service distribution, and even society itself. It is a phenomenon that everyone should indulge in and enjoy, because it’s only going to get bigger.
Vesta Digital Blog 