Category: Online Marketing

Despite Increased Adoption of Social Networking Tools, the Absence of Policies, Process and IT Architecture Puts Organizations at Risk

Cisco recently released the results of a third-party global study designed to assess how organizations use consumer social networking tools to collaborate externally, revealing the need for stronger governance and IT involvement. The use of consumer-based social networking tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, as collaboration platforms is connecting organizations with the external world in myriad ways.

The study findings indicate that the business world is at the early stages of adopting these tools and in the process of identifying key challenges, such as the need for increased governance and IT involvement.

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Study Highlights:

The Increased Use of Consumer-Based Social Networking Tools in the Enterprise

• 75 percent identified social networks as the consumer-based social media tools they primarily use, while roughly 50 percent of the group also identified extensive use of microblogging.
• Social networking tools are spreading into core areas of the value chain, including the marketing and communications, human relations, and customer service departments. Within marketing and communications, these tools have already become an integral part of the organizations’ initiatives.
• Small and medium-sized businesses are actively using social networking channels to generate leads, but this remains a growth opportunity for larger companies.

The Need for More Governance and IT Involvement in Social Media Efforts

Only one in seven of the companies that participated in the research noted a formal process associated with adopting consumer-based social networking tools for business purposes, indicating that the potential risks associated with these tools in the enterprise are either overlooked or not well understood.

For more information, see the full article.

For more social media “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

• Employee social media policies
• Business use and risks of social media
• Social networking policies

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

Does your company have a social media policy? Is it good? Is it fair to the employee?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman 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

Use Mobile to Engage the Customer and Build an Opt-in Database

When you create a marketing campaign that goes viral, you’ve hit the jackpot!

In this case study from the Mobile Marketing Association, we learn how the “Fly the Flag for Football” campaign created excitement around both the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while building an opted-in database for future mobile advertising campaigns.

Use Mobile Marketing to Collect Profile Information and Refer Friends

The campaign had an astounding 72% response and click-through rate – the number of consumers who visited the mobile website, profiled themselves, answered the questions and referred three friends after engaging in a competition via SMS short code.

Viral Mobile Marketing Campaigns can be Wildly Successful

This case study proves that when integrated properly within a “traditional” campaign, incentive-based mobile marketing has an extremely viral effect. It must be well planned, integrated into your offline strategies, goals and tactics; and well executed – just like all your marketing efforts!

(Case Study excerpted from Mobile Marketing Association)

For more information, see the full article, Viral Mobile Marketing Campaign Passes with Flying Colors

For more social media “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

• Viral Mobile Marketing Campaign
• Mobile Marketing
• Case Study Mobile Marketing

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

Have you used viral Mobile Marketing Campaigns to build your business?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

How one smart business doubled sales through a comprehensive rebranding effort using social media consulting

In this economy, business managers are finding that what worked before no longer works. Declining sales are often the first harsh blow that draws attention to a serious underlying a problem – one that they may not have even known existed. It can be quite painful, affecting employees and their jobs, even threatening the entire business.

When the old tried and true methods (“I’m sending more circulars, making more telemarketing calls, beefing up my newsletter”, etc) just aren’t solving the problem, it’s time to try new “Marketing” tactics. Social media consulting is proving to offer real solutions that attract key target customers and turn that traffic into real revenue!

Take the case of Lakota Trailers, a manufacturer of aluminum horse trailers.

The Problems:

Research from social media consulting revealed Lakota’s Problems:

• They lacked a long-term strategy

• They didn’t have a coherent brand position

• They hadn’t targeted a customer segment

The Solutions:

The insights gained from the research enabled Lakota to roll out its solutions, which included:

• A hybrid business development strategy

• A robust redesigned website

• A dynamite Google adword campaign

The Results:

• The site experienced a ten-fold increase in visits

• Lakota DOUBLED SALES in an industry that is trending downward in a poor economy!!

The entire story is quite inspiring. For more detailed information, see the full Brand Identity Marketing article.

For more social media “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

• Rebranding a company

• Branding case studies

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

What case studies have you found that trumpet the success of social media branding campaigns?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

. . ________ . .With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Word of Mouth Attracts New Customers

You’ve heard it – Social Media has been called one big cocktail party. Why? Because it’s us having conversation on everything from our little aches and pains to the latest and greatest in our lives, loves and laughs. So brands now understand that this casual word of mouth marketing is powerful – and essential to attract new customers.

How are brand marketers using social media “marketing” to increase revenues? (By the way, ALL companies are brands online – and offline – even small business.) Take a cue from Christine Morrison, TurboTax’s Social Media Marketing Manager, as she describes the fundamentals of applying word of mouth marketing to TurboTax’s social media strategy in this video.

Monetizing Social Media

TurboTax gets it. They monetize social media by carefully selecting and building online customer attraction, engagement and retention tools. BRAVO!

In Christine’s video, you’ll learn how they make user reviews more relevant and how they integrate customer support using Twitter. Learn how they utilize other key tactics:

• Customers can share their experience with a ‘Publish to Facebook’ option after submitting their e-file
• Facebook news feeds for 30% higher conversion than advertising
• Creating community in which customers help each other

For more social media “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

• Monetizing social media
• Word of Mouth marketing
• Christine Morrison TurboTax

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

What are your favorite tips for monetizing social media?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

If you don’t already track your Website Conversion Rate, START TODAY! Whether you are using landing pages, videos, free e-books, or another popular strategy for converting traffic into paying customers, you definitely want to track it.

Do you know how to calculate and use a Website Conversion Rate?

“In internet marketing, Conversion Rate is the ratio of visitors who convert casual content views or website visits into desired actions based on subtle or direct requests from marketers, advertisers, and content creators” according to Wikipedia. It is defined as:

Conversion Rate = # of Actions / # of Visits

In this equation, “# of Actions” is your desired outcome, or your conversion goal. For example, if you want visitors to use a discount code or coupon at purchase, then that is the “call to action” conversion goal.

Many “marketing” tools for free web analytics, such as Google Analytics, are readily available to make the job easier, enabling you to track website conversion rate trends over time. Google offers its web analytics solution for no charge, allowing anyone with a website to:

• track conversion data,
• analyze the flow of visitors through their site, and
• identify elements of their site that could be changed to improve visitor retention.

For more help, check out this Tip for Getting Started.

For even more “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

• Conversion Goals
• Conversion Funnel
• Web Analytics Tools

Happy “Marketing” Hunting!

Which free web analytics tools work best for you?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

It’s exciting to know that savvy business folks everywhere are FINALLY demanding – successfully – that their website or landing page work hard, and convert traffic into paying customers, both online AND offline.

Marketing is a by-product of sales

After all, marketing is a by-product of the sales function. Wikipedia’s definition of “Marketing” ties it all together for us: “Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association (AMA) as ‘the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.’ The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services.

Business is catching on to using a full toolbox of effective strategies for turning website traffic into money. In this economy, it’s newsworthy GLOBALLY, as the Wall Street Journal affirmed by publishing its September 4, 2009 (and still timely) article, “Three Best Ways to Convert Web Traffic into Sales”. The article offers three real-world case studies of companies that “tempt visitors into opening their wallets” and cites these tactics:

• Install a Click-to-Call Feature
• Chat with Customers Online
• Offer a Try-Before-You-Buy Program

For more detail, read the full text of the WSJ article.

For even more “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

• Website Traffic Conversion
• How to Increase Conversion Rates
• How to Monetize a Website
• Make Money from a Website

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

What traffic conversion tactics work for you?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

.. _____ ..

ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com