10 Digital Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners

The proliferation of digital marketing and social media resources has made it easier than ever to pitch to Main Street–without Madison Avenue budgets.

Mickey Mantas, ‎global agency and partner education consultant at LinkedIn, says these options let you be selective in how you spend digitally, and only “build a presence on the platforms that best represent you and your company.” Don’ t think of it as a one-time campaign; it’ll evolve and grow as your business does.

Chase assembled a panel of digital marketing experts—from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp—to help you plan your 2017 social campaigns. Here are some of their suggestions:

  1. Go mobile: We consume virtually all information on-the-go, so your marketing platform should be “mobile-centric” instead of just “mobile-friendly.” Messaging that isn’t designed for mobile access and search will be less valuable in 2017.
  2. Create compelling content: Our attention spans continue to drop—now just eight seconds, on average, according to a Microsoft study. Grab readers’ attention with information tailored to their needs and they’ll come back for more. “Put your products, services, business and employees in your content,” says Christian Eberhardt, sales manager at Twitter. “Use imagery and video to drive engagement.”
  3. Dive into data: Modestly-priced data-mining software can unearth sales and other customer information within your spreadsheets and reports, for insights you can act on: Personalizing offers and improving customer service.
  4. Think big (without spending big): No business is too small for digital marketing. These resources let you spend wisely, to elevate visibility and reputation. Facebook’s Global Head of Financial Services Strategy, Neil Hiltz says, “if people aren’t aware of you, they’re not going to buy your product.” Focus on keyword search and search engine optimization to attract more attention.
  5. Pay the piper: Relying on organic means to find your audience stack the odds against you. Amplify your presence, impact and reach through paid advertising on key sites.
  6. Build a profile: Spending a few minutes on your LinkedIn and other social media profiles—and amplifying that visibility with well-placed, paid social media posts—will raise your digital profile and attract new customers better than traditional networking would.
  7. Ask permission: Nobody wants spam. Earn the respect of your customers, prospects and influencers through permission marketing—a selling approach that requires explicit agreement to receive emails, newsletters or texts. Send “push” content only to those who want it, and leave everyone else off your distribution lists.
  8. Try “buy” buttons: Consumers can make purchases in one click, without even leaving Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites. These “buy buttons” are gaining popularity and increase the likelihood of a completed purchase, while freeing you from investing in costly app development.
  9. Look locally: A hyper-local paid strategy targets customers by zip code, neighborhood or street name, connecting you with the audiences you most care about.
  10. Email often: The so-called death of email marketing has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, email continues to be one of the most useful, cost-effective marketing tools: 78% of consumers aged 35–44 rank it as the communication platform they most prefer, according to MarketingSherpa. Used appropriately, it can be a powerful marketing tool.

Source Chase

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Segmenting Email Lists – A 2012 Trend

In mid November we were invited to speak to a group of energetic and eager-to-learn business brokers on the western coast of Florida on the topic of interactive marketing trends on the horizon for 2012. An appreciated "Emineo Media Email Marketing," "Interactive Email Marketing," "Interative Social Media Marketing," "Facebook Fan Pages"opportunity to connect with a group of professionals witnessing first hand the cause and effect of a challenged economy. And not unlike the entrepreneurs they actively serve, they themselves are constantly striving to find  the next bit of professional interactive marketing know-how they too can deploy to further differentiate their own niche within their space. As all small business owners launch revived marketing campaigns born out of regrets and new year resolutions, we’re offering this article by practical ecommerce as a point of reference as you continue to build and leverage your email list this year. We trust you’ll find it helpful in developing your own marketing plans for 2012 and of course, when time constraints prohibit you from efficiently or effectively maintaining your interactive strategies know that you always turn to us as your local partner.

 

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Optimizing email for Mobile a must!

Emineo Media email-to-text

Knotice:

As more and more consumers get to grips with a smartphone the number of emails opened on a mobile device has risen, according to new data released by digital marketing firm Knotice, making it more important than ever to ensure email messages render properly on a small screen. Emineo Media email-to-text

The growth in use of mobile email is illustrated by data recently released by Knotice. It shows that, in the first half of this year, the share of all email opens on mobile devices rose to 20.24% from 13.36% in the final quarter of 2010.

This represents growth of 51% in just a few months.

What this means for email marketers is the need to distribute email messages that are optimized for viewing on a mobile device as well as a PC. Furthermore, the email must be designed so that it can be interacted with, even via a small screen.

“Whether that means clicking through to a mobile-optimized site, tapping on a phone number to call a customer service agent, or even users providing their e-mail address to have a shopping cart, wish list, product information or follow-up reminder sent to them so they can complete the action when more convenient,” says the report.

“Focus needs to be on optimizing the e-mail as well as the post-click experience in tandem for an overall satisfying user experience.”

Earlier this year a study by ExactTarget found that over half (55%) of those who made a purchase via their mobile stated that it was an email marketing message, as opposed to text message or Facebook, that had been the catalyst for the purchase. Text messages drove 41% to make a mobile purchase and Facebook 35%.

Source Helen Leggatt

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