In the first week of November 2011 Google+, Google’s latest venture into the social network world, finally launched its business pages. The question now is how will they affect the field of online marketing? The launch of these pages was eagerly anticipated, but there have been some teething problems with businesses reporting difficulties in signing up for their slot. However it is early days yet and these appear to be simply teething problems perhaps because of the numbers of businesses anxious to get onto this social media platform at last.At ad tech, New York, during the first week of the launch, Google’s Christian Oestlien outlined ways in which Google+ pages will revolutionize the world of online marketing. He spoke of the “fragmented marketing” which takes place now and suggested that this could be a thing of the past as with the pages online marketers can connect with all users of Google+ as well as their own customers, directly. All +1s can now be tied together across a business site, search results and search advertisements on your Google Page. The ability to do this should directly impact on your SEO and increase your position in the Search Engine Rankings Pages.Google’s Circles can strengthen the recommendations that have been made about your product or services, which have in the past, suggested Mr. Oestlien, lacked “staying power.” Circles, he went on to say can provide brands with a means of delivering the right message to the right people. In other words, Circles will be a way of engaging with your customers and targeting cluster groups, delivering messages which those clusters are likely to want to know about. In other words Circles can help immensely with targeted advertising and the “one-size-fits-all” kind of ad will slowly become a thing of the past, not part of Google +’s bright future; impersonal messages will stop.The Ripples feature allows businesses to track the social life of an ad. You can search #pagetips on Google+ and get tips from other people about various aspects of online marketing and social media advertising and it also has a Google+ your business which can be added to your Circles.The key to Google+ and its opportunities for online marketers seems to me to be that businesses can have direct communication with the customers. All you have to do is take negative comments well and not respond to them angrily. There will be some of these as you can’t please all of the people all of the time. You can click on the ‘Start a Hangout’ button on the right of your home page to engage with fans but you need to think who should host the hangout at your end. You need someone with a great personality, a good sense of humor and one who doesn’t take negative comments personally. That person should be dynamic and a good people-person, able to communicate well with all types of people. This person will be your direct link to your “fans” and detractors, of course.Mr. Oestlien said that you could, in your Circles page, under a creative post say something to the effect of: – ” ‘we want to make sure we get the right messages to our fans, so +1 the comments below to let us know what circles you want to be part of,” in order for you to gauge what people are interested in.There has been a lot of talk about having direct communication with customers and clients and the major positive thing about Google+ Pages, in my opinion, is that it gives businesses a way to engage directly with consumers.
Archive for: February, 2023
Launch Of Google+ Business Pages: What Do They Hold For The Online Marketer?
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3 Social Marketing Services That You Should Be Using To Get Traffic
There are some social marketing services that you should definitely be using if you want to start getting more traffic to your website. The ultimate aim of social marketing is to spread the word. It’s a form of viral marketing. In the old days of internet marketing, you had to manually set up referral marketing campaigns and do things such as eBook marketing to get people to pass around your content, and get free visitors back to your site.In today’s times however, social marketing has highly evolved. There are more than 1 way to get referral and viral traffic back to your site automatically without you doing a thing. But you have to make sure that you know what you’re doing with the traffic once you get it. But that’s a topic for a different day. There are tons of social marketing services out there that can boost your credibility, reputation in your niche, and ultimately income.Now what you don’t want to do is use poor social marketing services that can get you banned from sites, or even get you blacklisted. Some people find this out the hard way. If you think buying 5,000 Facebook likes, or 5,000 subscribers to your Twitter account is an effective way to market and get more sales online, you’re definitely wrong. Some people think that if they just can “look good” online people will think they’re an expert and then will start buying from them. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.People don’t buy because they think you’re popular. People buy because they believe you have a good solution to a bad problem that they have. If all you have to offer is 5,000 Facebook likes to a person who’s having acne problems, then you won’t get the sale. So don’t invest in social marketing services that will only make you look good, but doesn’t have any effect on how much sales and profits that you get.Now I mentioned that I wanted to go over some social marketing services that you should be using to get traffic to your website. I’m about to list some of my favorite tools to use and how I use them, and how you can use them also to get the positive results in your business that you’re looking for. And don’t be afraid to invest in paid social marketing services also, because sometimes these paid services offer automation tools that are worth the money. Here’s the first social marketing service that you should be using:1) TwellowTwellow is like the “Yellow Pages” for Twitter. If you want more Twitter followers, this is where you should start. You can sign up here and browse through your niche categories, and start following people who have similar websites or Twitter profiles that you have. This is a free and easy way to start getting more Twitter followers without having to resort to a software that may get you banned from Twitter.In fact, a long time ago there was this paid automated software that was very popular called “Tweet Adder”. It was so popular that a second version was made and it was called “Tweet Adder 2″. It allowed you to massively get thousands of related Twitter users to follow you and start marketing to them.Needless to say, it was so successful and popular (and against Twitter’s terms of service) that anyone who was found to have used it at any point was banned from Twitter.People were building massive Twitter followings and using their “direct message” box (DM) to solicit leads and traffic from people. This got out of hand and a solution was needed to stop this poor practice from continuing. So peoples’ accounts got disabled, and they were no longer to use their Twitter profile to acquire business. And ultimately, “Tweet Adder” was shut down and discontinued. Here’s another social marketing service that you should be using:2) HootsuiteNow I did mention earlier that there are some paid social marketing services that you can use to automate your marketing. Hootsuite is one of these tools. Hootsuite provides a wide range of social marketing tasks that can be performed. And it’s 100% legal and doesn’t violate any terms of services on the social media platforms and websites online.One of my favorite features of Hootsuite is its ability to have your social media content posted automatically. What you would do is input some pre-inserted content into Hootsuite and specify when you want the content to be sent out. This saves a lot of time and if you have a website that already has a ton of content on it, this would be a great way to get it syndicated on the internet.And as you already know, if people on your social media accounts like what you are sending them, they are going to forward your information to their friends and colleagues also – give you more free eyeballs to your website and content. Hootsuite is great, and offers a TON of other social marketing services, but just this 1 alone is worth the investment.Here’s another social marketing service that you should be using:3) AddThisAddThis is social media button platform that allows people to instantly share your content automatically on their social media accounts. AddThis allows you to insert code onto your website or blog, and have social media icons appear on every page of your site. If someone lands on a page on your site or blog that has great content, they can instantly click on a social media button on your page and share your content with their followers.This is a quick and easy way to get free syndication without you doing a thing. And AddThis is free!These 3 social marketing services are tools that you will want to use if you want to strengthen your social marketing campaigns and obviously get more traffic to your website. They’re simple, and while 1 is paid (Hootsuite), it’s highly recommended that you invest in it for the longevity of your website and business.
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How to Choose the Right Promotional Apparel
When it comes to spreading the message about your business, promotional serves as an excellent communications tool. Promotional apparel can turn your staff members, business associates and customers into walking billboards for your business. People wearing your customized apparel provide a word-of-mouth type of testimony to prospective customers, showing that they think well enough of your business to wear the logo or name on their body. It is an effective way to increase awareness of your business while boosting staff morale and creating customer loyalty, because everyone loves free apparel.Promotional is not limited to t-shirts. You can find hoodies, polo shirts, jackets, shorts, hats, visors and more. If there is a spot on it to place your logo or business name, chances are you can customize it and use it to promote your business.Your business has a unique way of doing things and sends a unique message to customers, so it makes sense that you need promotional apparel to fit your individual business needs. First up, consider the plan for what you want to do with the promotional items. For example, some businesses give their staff members a casual day each week, allowing them to wear jeans and the company t-shirt or polo shirt. Other businesses frequent trade shows in which they want to give away business shirts, hats and other items.Consider the recipients of the promotional apparels and determine what items would be best to fit their preferences. In some cases, it may be helpful to ask some trusted staff members or valued customers what they would prefer when it comes to promotional apparel. Getting feedback from others can help you to narrow down the plethora of apparel choices.Selecting a Promotional Apparels ProviderThere are numerous companies online offering promotional apparels and accessories, so knowing where to turn can be a bit overwhelming. Spend a little time researching a company before placing an order to determine what type of customer service they offer.While some promotional apparels companies do all of the design and creation in-house, others send off the work to outside production companies, which adds to the order process time and level of customer service. Avoiding the middle-man and going straight to the source is best, because you know you are dealing with people who know the product and know how to walk you through the process.Often you will find that you need assistance determining where to place the logo and what type of message to print or embroider on the promotional apparels items. Its times such as these that you will be glad you are working with a company that provides involved customer service and free consultations to help you through the decision-making process.If you are interested in seeing samples of promotional apparel, ask the company if they can provide examples of their previous work. Whether they are able to meet this request or not will determine the level and quality of customer service they can offer.There’s no need to settle for a promotional apparels company that does not put a priority on customer service. Your business deserves a high-quality product as well as top-notch customer service.
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