Archive for Marketing Strategy
Social Networking is the New Marketing
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Social Networking-Step into the deep end of the new marketing wave
The internet has opened us up to more; more information, more commercials, and more staying close. With that exposure to more, it has also put a death knoll on marketing campaigns as we knew them. Traditional tactics of putting an image out there for a company do not work anymore. People want connections; they want to feel they know the company inside and out. They do not want to be treated like mindless shopaholics.
The internet has shown customers that information is king and conversation is next in line for the throne.
Gone are the days of the customer not caring where the stuff they buy comes from. Too much is at stake these days, including the environment and jobs. People want to know where what they buy comes from, and they want to feel like there is a personal connection there. Customers want to trust you, and building trust cannot be done in a 30 second advertisement.
Social networking has also opened up businesses to respond to customer needs instantly.
The internet has trained all of us to expect things yesterday. We no longer wait for letters to be sent through the mail, we send them by magic instead so they arrive in moments. Your customers expect you to communicate with them with the same speed and efficiency. With social networking you can respond to customer needs, wants, and concerns with the touch of a button.
Lastly, social networking lets your customers know that you are dependable. When a customer posts a concern, and you respond to it immediately, you are further building trust. This way both current and potential customers know that you listen and respond to their needs. Letting customers post their problems publicly may seem a bit odd, but everyone knows that no company is perfect. Letting them know that you care about satisfied customers, and if they are not satisfied you will work until it is right, then customers will flock to you.
Social networking also allows the business to post meaningful information in more than one place.
Your customers are already using social networking.
By using it as a business, you are able to post hours of operation, maps, addresses, and contact information on more than just the company website. This allows customers to find you more easily.
PR Checklist
Posted by: | CommentsDoes the thought of writing a press release send you wishing for a route canal at the dentist? Do you have a press release and are unsure if it is optimized according to the checklist below? If you answered “yes” to these questions then it is time to hire me!
Do you need small business support regarding public relations? Do you wish you had craft business support in the area of public relations? If you answered “yes” to these questions then it is time to hire me!
I can help you integrate a press release into your marketing strategy using social media to improve your public relations.
How to use a checklist to do better PR
- what’s the main story?
- does the content map to the business intent?
- have you utilized the insights and research available to you in the course of writing?
- how is this piece fitting in the content toolkit you’re making available to customers?
- have you compared notes with all sources?
- how is the piece fitting to the editorial calendar of the people in your outreach program?
- is your language approachable? Have you taken the opportunity to simplify/educate?
- do you have the right people/quotes in the piece, and is everyone’s name
spelled correctly?
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Twitter to become more widely used
Posted by: | CommentsTwitter embeds itself in the web
“Imagine being able to follow a New York Times journalist directly from her byline, tweet about a video without leaving YouTube, and discover new Twitter accounts while visiting the Yahoo home page,” Twitter said on its blog.
The social network has not said when the service will launch, but said that it had already partnered with YouTube, Microsoft Bing and eBay amongst others.
This “open” approach to third-party developers allowed Twitter to grow at a phenomenal rate in its early days.
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Where to sell your crafts
Posted by: | CommentsDo you need a marketing strategy? I provide craft business support. If you are using the below services and would like to position your crafts higher in the market, please contact me.
Online Venues for Selling Crafts and Handmade Goods
Etsy is probably the largest and most popular of the virtual markets.
Silk Fair opened in February 2008.
Artfire is a newer site
Made It Myself is another new site strictly for handmade only
DaWanda is based in Europe and has a more European focus
Lov.li is based in the US, but also has users worldwide.
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For your consideration…selling your crafts
Posted by: | CommentsDo you need craft business support? I help crafters develop a marketing strategy for promoting their crafts. The information below is a concise checklist. These are the most popular sites for you to consider when using the Internet to sell crafts online.
How to Sell Crafts Online
By Kristy Pruitt
User-Submitted Article
Open a PayPal account
setting up shop at Etsy.com
Sell on eBay
Set up your own website
Promote your offerings
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Customers Bring You Customers
Posted by: | CommentsUsing Social Media to Support your Marketing Strategy
Customers will drive other customers, so use social networking as a platform to allow them to communicate with each other as well as with the company. Give your customers a voice, let them tell the world why they love your product or your service, and
The world will arrive at your door.
Link Face Space Tweet
Posted by: | CommentsUsing Social Media to Support your Marketing Strategy
After you have established traffic to your website and a following for the blog, enter into the social sites. Create a fan page on Facebook, tweet your company’s happenings or about blog updates, put a complete company profile on MySpace, network with other professionals on Linkdin. No matter how you do it, getting the word out there is crucial. Even so, keep in mind that social media is not all about talking, it is about listening too. Use this platform to hear why your customers are your customers.
They will thank you in sales.
Bring On The Blog
Posted by: | CommentsUsing Social Media to Support your Marketing Strategy
Next, get a blog. There are a ton of blogging platforms out there, and different ones offer different features. At the very basic level you will want your blog to reflect relevant content to your readers. Post information about your company a logo, and to post pictures of what is happening at your company. This is the second main tool that should be used to reach potential and current customers. Your customers are not doing business with your company, they are doing business with the people at your company; the ones answering the phones, reading emails, or packing boxes. Let your customers know who those people are and what they do for you. Even if you are a solopreneur, share, let your customers know about you and how you do business. Let your customers know where you are heading next, and how the company is evolving to help them better. Granted, this is a lot of work but well worth it;
The information that you share about your products and company can drive customers to you in droves.
Every Business Needs a Website
Posted by: | CommentsUsing Social Media to Support your Marketing Strategy
If you do not have a website, get one. Buy a domain name, find a host, and get your name and image out there. A business may survive without a website today, but it certainly is not going to dominate its market. More and more people are becoming web savvy, and
Your business needs to be there to be noticed.
Remember, even though social networks serve a valuable service most do not charge a fee to use them. Buyer beware. Your account and your content are under the discretion of the social network. If you rely solely on, for example Facebook, to build your customer base and “run” your business then Facebook decides to shut down your account, you are “SOL = So Outta Luck.” Social networks should be just that networks you use as a media outlet to focus attention on your website.
Again, you should buy a domain name and pay for web hosting.
Do You Have a Website?
Posted by: | CommentsUsing Social Media to Support your Marketing Strategy
The hardest part of being in business is marketing, especially today with websites, blogs, social sites, tweets, and posts.
Where do you start to use these tools to support the traditional marketing strategies you may already be using?
1. Do you have a website?
2. Do you have a blog?
3. Do you have a Facebook Fan Page?
4. Do you have a profile on Linked In?
5. Do you have a Twitter account?
