Archive for the ‘Website Promotion’ Category

5 Benefits of Social Media Marketing for your Business

Sunday, January 31st, 2010
social media marketing

social media

Here at Mauco Internet Consultants this past few weeks, we’ve been trying to sensitize our clients on the benefits of social media and the need to adopt some form of social media marketing into their marketing mix. We thought it would be nice to share with you some benefits of social media marketing for your business. So what is social media and how can it benefit your business?

Social media marketing is the process of promoting your website or business through social media channels like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Today a rapidly growing number of small businesses are including social media ideas and strategies in their goals. The immense number of people who participate in social media websites has led to increased investment in the growing field of social media marketing.

If it isn’t already, social media marketing should be an integral part of your marketing mix. Social media marketing is a long term and time consuming investment and if done properly, can be very rewarding. This doesn’t mean that you have to jump on the bandwagon and launch an account on Facebook or Twitter for your business without giving some taught to the basics.

Often the social media channels you choose depends to a large extent on your product/service and your target audience. Let’s highlight just 5 benefits of social media makreting in your business.

Benefits:

  1. The natural nature of social media marketing means your brand is exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs from paid advertising which has overt commercial overtones.
  2. Social media marketing is defensible because once successfully mastered and implemented in your business, the social communities that you gather can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines.
  3. If done properly social media marketing guarantees low cost and high returns. If done by yourself, social media marketing costs are limited to only the time you spend on the site. But having your social media marketing campaign implemented by a professional is often better asthe benefits will often exceed the cost.
  4. It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn’t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.
  5. Social media marketing doesn’t directly make you money. Rather it helps you generate a community of fans who are interested in your website or brand and will help you advertise same through word of mouth. This in turn will eventually lead to the purchase of your brand.

The viral nature social media marketing is what makes it so interesting and worthwhile. A successful Social Media Marketing campaign leads to a lot more talk about your brand and website online. When your message works with your users, they will spread your message more effectively than tradition methods.

So, are you using social media marketing strategies in your small business? What has been your experience or challenges of using social media marketing in your business? What are your thoughts about using social media marketing in your business? Please share your comments below. Till next time….

How To Make Your Website Stand Out With Web Videos

Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Web Videos

Web Videos

Does your business standout online? How can you make your business stand out from your competitors?

Professional web videos are the answer. There are different kind like:

  • Borderless video spokesperson (like this  borderless video here)
  • video headers
  • video banners
  • video presentations
  • video product demonstrations etc.

Any of these can bring your website to life with an online video person!

Incorporating video onto your existing website can provide one of the highest return-on-investment you can make in your online marketing campaign. With an Online Virtual Spokesperson on your website you can use it to:

  • Introduce your home page
  • Enhance your FAQ page
  • Create online tutorials
  • Drive call to action on lead forms
  • Guide your visitors to accomplish a certain task on your site etc.

Professional web videos help you engage with your website visitors, retain visitors that come to your website, thereby increasing your chances of making more money via your website. Also when setup properly professional web videos help you gain higher ranks on search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

You can choose to host and broadcast the video on your own site – if your hosting provider allows it – or on popular online video sites like You Tube. In most cases your online video spokesperson provider will host the video whilst you place a tiny link from your website to it. It is best you contact an internet consultant to guide you. We can assist you in getting one!

What (if any) has been your experience with professional web videos? Fee free to share your comments below.

5 Mistakes To Avoid In Small Business Advertising

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
5 Mistakes To Avoid In Small Business Advertising

5 Mistakes To Avoid In Small Business Advertising

As I opened a newspaper last Saturday morning, a flyer fell out that read “How to build profitable websites fast” and right underneath, a phone number to call.

Being a small business owner, I immediately recognized the signs that this person was just starting out and trying his best to promote himself. I was impressed with his courage, but at the same time I felt a bit sorry for the person, because he/she had committed one of the 5 mistakes peculiar to small start-up business print advertisements.Some of these mistakes I have committed myself and I learnt my lessons, the hard (and painful) way!

The 5 mistakes to avoid in small business advertising are:

Don’t Look Cheap:

Being a small business owner doesn’t mean you have to look cheap! The first major mistake evident in the flyer I mentioned earlier is that it was a photocopy! He ran several black and white copies of his flyer. This automatically raises the question in the readers mind “…How can you teach me to build a profitable website when your flyer doesn’t look like you’ve made any profit yourself!”

As a small business owner, you must be willing to splurg on professional marketing collaterals (business cards, letterheads, flyers etc). These are the first things that will aid you to grab attention of your potential customers. When I started out, I had a plain business card in which one of my mentors described as highly forgettable! Then I decided to spend on a more professional one which brought better response in terms of advertising my small business.

Don’t Do It Yourself:

There’s this tendency amongst small business owners to want always look for a DIY solution, thinking it’ll help save a few bucks. Well, when it comes to small business advertising, this is not true! The flyer mentioned above was obviously done by the person. But for a better ROI you have to hire a Pro. In my case, hiring a professional brand consultant was one of the best investments I’ve made. In fact when I think of all the money wasted in previous attempts at DIY advertising, I feel so bad.

Don’t Pretend To Be What You’re Not:

Focus on what you do best. If you’re a graphics designer specializing in print, say so. Don’t pretend to be a web designer, web developer, etc. I often let my clients know that we design for the web and not for print.

But I must mention here that as a small business owner, the chances are that you a one-man-show and you’re the CEO, Marketing Exec and Telephone answering guy etc. There’s noting wrong in letting the client know as you can read in this article. So don’t pretend.

Don’t Promise What You Can’t Deliver:

The best way to shoot yourself in the foot in your advertisement is to promise what you can’t deliver! Woe betide you, if you collect money from the client and you can’t deliver. You’d have surely murdered sleep and your business as well.

Don’t Try To Be Everything To Everyone:

In your advertisement, always put your best foot forward by stating your core areas! Clients are very wise these days and would be able to spot your  areas of specialization straight off! In fact, your clients would appreciate your candour if you let them know your limitations.

Once you avoid the above mistakes, your adverts will surely grab attention and yield the necessary results.

PPC or SEO – Which do you need?

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

A common question is whether Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is better or more effective than doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website.

The answer is: you need both! Let me explain.

Have you heard the story of the tortoise and the hare? The case of SEO and PPC is similar to that.

To truly maximize your search engine presence, you need to start with an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program. While SEO is a slow and steady like the tortoise, it is fundametally critical to your success online. The reasons are:

1) 8 out of 10 users are more likely to click on your natural or organic listing rather than a PPc or sponsored listing i.e. the main search results that are returned by Google, Yahoo! etc, rather than the sponsored links on the top/right hand sections.

2) Unlike PPC ads, your website is the hub to your online presence. It must be visible to all potential prospects and customers everywhere they are searching.

3) – Generally speaking, a website that is following a consistent SEO program will drive more traffic and users will generally have a better experience.

So what about PPC advertising? Like the hare, PPC ads are the quick-hitting events that can quickly drive targeted traffic to your website. A few key reasons for PPC advertising:

1) PPC advertising is the most cost-effective form of advertising today.

2) Unlike SEO that takes time to build your ranking, PPC ads can immediately vault you to the first page of the serach results.

3) PPC ads can be very targeted to a specific area/region, easily tested, and measured for effectivenss.

We all know who wins the race between the tortoise and the hare. In the long-run, an effective SEO program will drive more visits to your website more cost-effictively. However, the hare sure created a lot of excitement along the way! So get in the race and use these two strategies the right way to maximize your online presence.

Sound simple? It really is! In order to succeed however, you must be willing to work with an SEO or PPC professional to make your success a reality.

Visit us Wpromote to see how they can help you leverage the web as a sales and marketing asset.