Author: Lisa Chapman

Guest Author: Jessica Davis, GoDot Media

Tips to Integrate Your Offline and Online Marketing Strategies

A central message, many marketing mediums. Interactions between the mediums attract more eyeballs to whatever it is that your message is promoting, and improve brand experience. Offline advertising drives a majority of online search queries – integration is essential to being found where your prospects may choose to look and encourage them along the sales funnel. If you market traditionally and digitally, integrating the two is not a challenging task. Here are four tips that can help you start strong.

A smart internet marketing strategy – ‘Hashtag’ your way into prospects’ minds

Hashtags (#) let prospects in on what people are saying about your brand and invite them to join the conversation. You can integrate hashtags into your traditional advertising by including them in your flyers, brochures and banners. Hashtags are easy to remember and prospects are more likely to use them to learn about your brand online than using your website URL.

Hashtags identify topical interests that Twitterati (that’s 240+ million active monthly users) uses in its digital conversations to talk about brands, among a plethora of other things. Encourage guests at your company events to use hashtags in exchange for rewards. A good incentive to tag photos of your event on Twitter and Instagram will enthuse them and enhance awareness around your brand.

Incentivize the use of QR codes in your offline marketing collateral

For every prospect or customer with a smartphone, there lies the opportunity to interact with QR codes. Use fliers and other offline marketing collateral printed with QR codes (two-dimensional matrix codes) that allow prospects/customers to scan instantly on their smartphones to perform the desired action on your website or social media business page. Define the objective you want the QR code to achieve. Direct prospects to your ‘discounts and offers’ page or ‘new products’ page. Encourage customers to rate your product/service by taking them to your internal feedback system the way FedEx has done so successfully with their feedback fliers. Give them an incentive to perform this action. FedEx gives customers who rate their experience up to 25 per cent off on their next order.

Are you a local business? Requesting mobile check-ins at your physical store is one of the best online marketing strategies you can use

Mobile check-ins allow customers visiting your store to communicate their interaction with your business. Like hashtags, they are effective in bringing attention to your brand and making you appear likeable and exciting. Facilitating this mobile, social and local activity are Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook. It doesn’t take much to request customers to check-in on their mobile apps when they are waiting in queue at the cash counter or browsing through aisles. Not everyone may check-in, but those who do can support your marketing efforts in a meaningful way. To encourage customers, you can offer a free item or discount for every check-in.

Invest in paid search campaigns for products you promote offline

As prospects go online to learn more about products you are promoting offline, it makes sense to use paid search campaigns to help prospects find the products easily when they visit popular search engines. It is a lost opportunity if they are unable to find you online after being motivated by your flier. In the case of products that you are promoting heavily offline, you can consider increasing the budget for top placements in paid result results.

When you are aiming for such a seamless integration, match the look and feel of your online and offline marketing, and examine the use of the same keywords for both campaigns to stay front-and-center in prospects’ minds. If you are not keen on paid search, you can create custom webpages dedicated to your offline campaign. Add custom URLs to your offline marketing and track your campaign without breaking a sweat.

What methods have you used to integrate your online and offline marketing? Share your tips and advice.

About the author

Jessica Davis is a Content Marketing expert at Godot Media, a leading content writing company. She works with other eBook writers to create relevant and engaging content for businesses and individuals. She is also interested in technology, social media and fashion.

Bob Bly Shows Us How

Bob Bly is the author of more than 70 books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Direct Marketing (Alpha Books). Bob has been dubbed “America’s top copywriter” by McGraw-Hill and praised by legendary ad man David Ogilvy. With a 30+ year track record as a top freelance copywriter, when Bob writes, people listen – then they move on his Calls to Action.

In his famous book, The Copywriter’s Handbook (Henry Holt & Co.), Bob shares, among many valuable things, his inside experience with over 100 top-notch clients: writing headlines that get attention – and then draw the reader into the body copy. The excerpts below are tips directly from this rich book.

Powerful Headlines

Bob quotes David Ogilvy, author of Confessions of an Advertising Man:

“The headline is the most important element… It is the telegram which decides whether the reader will read the copy. On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar. If you haven’t done some selling in your headline, you have wasted 80 percent of your client’s money.”

The very same concept applies to Blog content. According to Bob, when readers browse headlines, they want to know: “What’s in it for me?” The effective headline tells the reader: “Hey, stop a minute! This is something that you’ll want!” As mail-order copywriter John Caples explains, “The best headlines appeal to people’s self-interest, or give news.”

Good Headlines Have Very Specific Jobs

Bob explains that your headline can perform four different tasks:

1. Get attention.

2. Select the audience.

3. Deliver a complete message.

4. Draw the reader into the body copy.

Bob gives crystal clear examples of how headlines perform each of these jobs:

1. Good Headlines Get Attention

We’ve already seen how headlines get attention by appealing to the reader’s self-interest. Here are a few more examples of this type of headline:

• “Give Your Kids a Fighting Chance” – Crest
• “Why Swelter Through Another Hot Summer?” – GE air conditioners
• “For Deep-Clean, Oil-Free Skin, Noxzema Has the Solution” – Noxzema moisturizer

Another effective attention-getting gambit is to give the reader news. Headlines that give news often use words such as new, discover, introducing, announcing, now, it’s here, at last, and just arrived.

• “New Sensational Video Can Give You Thin Thighs Starting Now!” – Exercise videotape
• “Discover Our New Rich-Roasted Taste” – Brim decaffeinated coffee
• “Introducing New Come ’N Get It. Bursting With New Exciting 4-Flavor Taste.” – Come ’N Get It dog food

If you can legitimately use the word free in your headline, do so. Free is the most powerful word in the copywriter’s vocabulary. Everybody wants to get something for free.

• “Free New Report on 67 Emerging Growth Stocks” – Merrill Lynch
• “Three Easy Steps to Fine Wood Finishing” – Minwax Wood Finish
• “How to Bake Beans” – Van Camp’s

2. Good Headlines Select the Audience

If you are selling life insurance to people over 65, there is no point in writing copy that generates inquiries from young people. Here are a few more headlines that do a good job of selecting the right audience for the product:

• “We’re Looking for People to Write Children’s Books” – The Institute of Children’s Literature
• “A Message to All Charter Security Life Policyholders of Single Premium Deferred Annuities” – Charter Security life insurance
• “Is Your Electric Bill Too High?” – Utility ad

3. Good Headlines Deliver a Complete Message

According to David Ogilvy, four out of five readers will read the headline and skip the rest. If this is the case, it pays to make a complete statement in your headline. That way, the copy can do some selling to those 80 percent of readers who read headlines only. Here are a few headlines that deliver complete messages:

• “Caught Soon Enough, Early Tooth Decay Can Actually Be Repaired by Colgate!” – Colgate toothpaste
• “Gas Energy Inc. Cuts Cooling and Heating Costs Up to 50%” – Hitachi chiller-heaters
• “You Can Make Big Money in Real Estate Right Now” – Century 21

4. Good Headlines Draw the Reader into the Body Copy

Certain product categories—liquor, soft drinks, and fashion, for example—can be sold with an attractive photo, a powerful headline, and a minimum of words. But many products—automobiles, computers, books, records, home study programs, life insurance, and investments—require that the reader be

given a lot of information. That information appears in the body copy, and for the copy to be effective, the headline must compel the reader to read this copy. To draw the reader in, you must arouse his or her curiosity. You can do this with humor, or intrigue, or mystery. You can ask a question or make a provocative statement. You can promise a reward, news, or useful information.

• “The $5 Alternative to Costly Plastic Surgery.” The reader is lured into the copy to satisfy her curiosity about what this inexpensive alternative might be. The headline would not have been as successful if it said, “$5 Bottle of Lotion Is an Inexpensive Alternative to Costly Plastic Surgery.”
• “If You’re Confused about Buying a Personal Computer, Here’s Some Help.” You’ll want to read the copy to get the advice offered in the headline.

Read more about Bob and see how he applies his own advice in examples of his own blog posts. Thanks, Bob, for mentoring us!

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com.

Ms. Chapman’s book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

• Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
• Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur

Create a website that super-optimizes

What factors should you build into your website to get found online? When marketing online, it’s tough, because search engines try to keep us guessing. Every search engine has its own ‘algorithm” – the factors that weigh heavily in ranking your site for the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

But when it comes down to it, there really are only so many factors that makes sense and deliver excellent results for a given search. The marketing experts at webconfs.com have compiled a Best Practices Checklist for designing a high traffic website. I am delighted to share the summary of the top factors:

Keywords in the <title> tag

The <title> tag (or Meta Title) is the TITLE that shows up on the SERP – it’s considered the most important element that entices the searcher to click on the link to the website. You need to CAREFULLY select the 65 characters (limit) that describe the website. Use your most important keywords at the beginning.

Keywords in URL

This was more important to Google searches in the past, but is still a factor in other search engines’ algorithms. Keywords in the URL must be supported by keywords in the text.

Keyword density in document text

Use your most important keywords 3-7% (for every 100 words, use the keyword 3-7 times). Density over 10% is often viewed as ‘stuffing’, which could be the basis for LOWER ranking if used excessively throughout the site.

Keywords in anchor text

Use your top keywords in the text of your links. It is the text that shows up when you scroll over the link or other element.

Keywords in headings (<H1>, <H2>, etc. tags)

An important place – be sure that keywords in your headings are supported by those same words in the text.

Keywords in the beginning of a document

These also count, though not as much as anchor text, title tag or headings. However, they are still very important as support. They must match or the algorithm will suspect that the site is not really about those keyword topics.

Keywords in <alt> tags

ALT Tags are invisible descriptions of images. If you have images on your page, fill in the <alt> tag with some of your top keywords – about the image.

Keywords in meta tags

A meta tag is a tag (that is, a coding statement) in the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that describes some aspect of the contents of a Web page. Less and less important, especially for Google. Yahoo! and Bing still rely on them, so if you are optimizing for Yahoo! or Bing, fill these tags properly.

Keyword proximity

Keyword proximity is applicable for keyword phrases that consist of 2 or more words. Keyword proximity measures how close in the text the keywords are. It is best if they are immediately one after the other (e.g. “dog food”) where the term ‘dog food’ is a keyword phrase.

Need SEO Background Info?

If you need more information on particular sections of the checklist, you may want to read Webconf’s SEO tutorial, which gives more detailed explanations of Keywords, Links, Metatags, Visual Extras, etc

How competitive is YOUR SEO challenge? Tell us about it.

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

• Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
• Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur

Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

How online campaigning enhances election results

The basics of using social media in political campaigns is not that much different than using social media for individuals or businesses. Ultimately, you’re posting content in order to engage a defined audience and get them to embrace something.

Does it replace traditional political campaign tactics?

Your political social media campaign is important – but does NOT replace traditional political campaign marketing. Social media campaign marketing should enhance, not replace your offline campaign. It’s still enormously important to get your message out there in the traditional ways – flyers, door hangers, yard signs and position papers. Your message and your position on the issues become the basis of your social media campaign. No, it does not replace your offline campaign, but it sure does strengthen it – and expand its reach. A candidate with an effective online campaign clearly has a competitive advantage over one who doesn’t.

Politicians are naturally good at social media campaigns

Political campaign candidates have exceptional qualities that make them a natural success at social media and networking. They’re individuals who are highly dedicated and have a strong sense of place and purpose. Politicians are generally great at connecting – sharing information and helping others. When strong opinions and multiple voices are involved, political candidates are good at cutting through the clutter and deflecting negative feedback.

The goal of an effective online political campaign

Your overarching goal for social media during your campaign (and afterward!) is to activate lively engagement with and among your constituents. You will:

• Spread awareness of your campaign

• Make it easy for supporters to follow your campaign and messages

• Interact with supporters (and opponents!)

• Coordinate events

• Raise money

• Get out the vote (GOTV)

• Reach a larger audience

Should you pay for online political marketing?

While it’s easy to pay to market your political campaign online, it is definitely preferable to engage your supporters to spread your messages for you. The influence of their reach, credibility and trust far outweigh anything you could pay for.

The future of elected government will likely be measured by Likes and Followers – as well as votes.

Do your local political candidates use social media effectively?

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

• Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
• Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur

Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Killer ways to improve your LinkedIn profile

Michael Stelzner has a great gift. The social media marketing tips he shares through his Social Media Examiner newsletter are valuable, concise and easy to apply. That’s why I’m eager to share the wisdom of Debra Eckerling, one of his expert authors.

If you want to stand above the crowd on LinkedIn, here’s what you need to do:

#1 – Possibly the most important part of your LinkedIn profile, your headline is your hook. It should be memorable with a hint of a tease that makes people want to read more. He gives you a link to 10 examples that help you stand out from the crowd.

#2 – Now that you’ve gotten your readers’ attention, cast a spell on them with a detailed profile summary that gives a glimpse into who you are. Three examples help keep you on track.

#3 – Your job history should be more than just a list of paid positions. As with the summary, it should be written with your audience in mind. It should also have all of the bells and whistles that highlight your experience. He also talks about 7 ways your LinkedIn Profile and resume should differ.

#4 – You know the old standby, “Do unto others…”? Well, endorse others and they’ll likely endorse you, too! Endorsements validate your experience and accomplishments. Take an active role to make sure you have recommendations from a variety of people. Also included: 6 things you should know about LinkedIn recommendations.

BONUS: The Perfect LinkedIn Status Update can bring desired attention to your profile. Jennifer Burnham and SalesForce show that whether you’re sharing news, trends, products or just your opinion, thoughtful and targeted status updates can help you solidify your expertise.

For all the details in each of these categories, you’ll want to go to the Social Media Examiner article. And I’d highly recommend subscribing to Social Media Examiner. I’m very selective, but I wouldn’t miss it.

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman

Ms. Chapman’s book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:

• Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
• Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur

Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Follow the 4-1-1 Rule

Need fresh content ideas? Who doesn’t? By using the 4-1-1 Rule, you will attract and engage your target audiences, give them value, and come out the winner!

The 4-1-1 Rule was coined by Tippingpoint Labs and Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute. The rule states:

“For every one self-serving tweet, you should retweet one relevant tweet and most importantly share four pieces of relevant content written by others.”

Why? Because when you lift someone else up by circulating their content (with appropriate credit and links), you create a win-win-win. The original author wins by gaining more exposure, your reader wins by receiving valuable information, and YOU win in many ways.

How You Win with the 4-1-1 Rule

First, you establish yourself as someone who acknowledges and helps others. Immediately, and in the most important way, you create a very positive impression. If you help others, you must be a generous and trustworthy person, right? Second, it will come back to you. The individuals you lift up (and others) will notice, and you will be lifted up. It may not come from the same individual, but it will happen. That’s how it works. And Third, you create for yourself a value system of helping, not selling.

Since your postings will likely be searched by search engines, think of ‘helping’ when you sit down to write your posts. This is an important aspect of your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.

Your SEO Strategy

The effectiveness of your SEO strategy – getting found online – depends on how well you know and appeal to your Target Audiences. Spend clear-thinking time to profile your Target Audiences by listing:

• 30 of their pressing needs
• 20 unique problems they face
• 10 of their issue-related likes and 10 dislikes
• 25 top questions they have

… the answers to which are information topics they would search for, and be eager to read and pass on to others. Now find others’ content or write your own.

Apply the 4-1-1 Rule

Try to apply the 4-1-1 rule to your posts on all content platforms and social networking platforms. It certainly works with blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook.

As Jay Baer says, “If you sell something, you make a customer today, but if you genuinely help someone, you create a customer for life.”

Where do you find content of great interest to your Target Audiences?

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is now available at:

• Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
• Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur

Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Amie Valpone’s Healthy Apple comes close

Clearly, when it comes to website layout, no one-size-fits-all exists. But some are ‘more perfect’ than others. Here’s one that gets raves for achieving a whole lot in an efficient, very effective way: TheHealthApple.com. Kudos to the designer, Zesty Blog Consulting and the owner, Amie Valpone, for working together on this first-rate website design. They clearly teamed up to express Amie’s passion and business offerings with a design that works behind the scenes, too.

Healthy Apple may not be all that you want or need, but I’d like to point out the components that make it especially:

• captivating,
• user-friendly,
• sticky,
• SEO optimized,
• social media optimized, and
• of tremendous value to the visitor.

When considering changes to your site, consider each of these:

1. Awesome header photo, together with the brand name “Healthy Apple” and tagline “Your guide to clean eating” accomplishes the 2-3 second rule: visitors immediately know what this site is about, and they get a quick, positive first impression.
2. In the next 2-3 seconds, this site gives the visitor reasons to stay – reasons that are important to the visitor (not a description of what the site is about). These reasons are: a.) the enticing title of the blog post OR b.) the free download offer. By this time, if the visitor isn’t interested, they know they’re on the wrong site. No wondering what it’s about.
3. The free download offer is positioned above the fold, and is clean, asking only for an email address. It uses the word Free (very powerful – many, many people search using the word Free.) This is the perfect ‘call-to-action’ that builds the email database. I would add a note underneath: “Your privacy is important to us. We NEVER share your information.”
4. Amie personalizes the Home page by including her picture next to the link to her Facebook page and Like button. I think this is simple and brilliant. It creates a connection and first level trust.
5. This site does not over-use links to social media. The Home page makes it easy to share on Facebook, with links to other platforms nearby (Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)

Now, scroll down and explore the rest of the Home page:

6. The blog content contains a plethora of keywords which are presented in the body as links, bolded and underlined. Search engines clearly understand what is important on this site and will be recognized in search engine results pages (SERPs) because of it.
7. In the blog posts, Amie consistently refers to other posts for related information. VERY user-friendly and promotes intense ‘stickiness’ (visitors stay on the site.)
8. On the right, another very friendly picture of Amie and a short bio – this further connects the visitor and builds her credibility as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and builds trust.
9. Beneath that, quick links to her media presence. Visitors increasingly learn that she is recognized by the industry as a SME. A glance at the Media page will blow you away – she’s everywhere in the media! I would consider adding a media kit – downloadable information and pictures for the media to use when quoting her.
10. Further to the right, quick links to an extensive list of more compelling content – with EXCELLENT TITLES that include keywords. This is absolute search engine CANDY – especially ‘Categories’ and ‘more apples’.
11. ‘more apples’ is a friendly heading, used instead of ‘Previous Posts’ or something similar. The list is fabulous – visitors will find everything they’re looking for, Amie gives enormous content value, and search engines will bring new traffic. With this list on the Home page, it’s clear that the target audience will share, if they’re in that mode. (See the ‘share’ buttons on the lower left – excellent placement.)
12. At the bottom, short intro to recipes – more keywords and phrases, as well as pleasing content for the visitor.

User-Friendly

Not surprisingly, TheHealthyApple.com was built in WordPress. It can be easily changed and updated by Amie or anyone on her staff. The ‘About’ tab is second from left at the top, and the information about Amie is complete and engaging. Notice that the links to blog posts are repeated on this page. In fact, the entire right side is repeated on all pages of this site, with only the content in the left column changing. So visitors have easy access to all of Amie’s posts. Very user-friendly.

I could go on and on, but want to point out one last, important item. Amie invites comments, and answers them immediately. This encourages user-engagement and Brand Ambassador-ship (her audience tells others about her site.) Her audience enjoys asking Amie questions, and actually getting genuine, meaningful answers. I strongly suspect that the comments are moderated, meaning that they do not post until she approves them, then has the opportunity to answer instantly. This gives her control over the quality and appropriateness of the comments.

What would you add to enhance this site? Do you have other examples of close to perfect layouts?

For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is now available at:

• Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/AmazonTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur
• Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/BNTheWebPoweredEntrepreneur

Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. She helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com