Case Study 2 – ZEN Portfolios – The simple way to create _ promote
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Upon researching for a recent report of mine I came across this post by Gracelyn Tan. She boils down ecommerce strategy to 4 main points:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- research your words
- utilize web analytics
- use multimedia tools
- diversify traffic sources
2. Content marketing
- use variety of content
- always have a strategy
3. Email marketing
- mobilize mobile
- ALWAYS send a test email first
- update and optimize your email list
- content is KING
4. Social media marketing
- utilize contents
- don’t let Google+ collect dust
- use a distinctive tone/voice
- stay relevant
I feel this information helped me in my past considerations when optimizing my clients website. I found some of these points more useful than other so make sure to analyze and reevaluate your marketing mix to stay ahead of the game!
Viral Network is the one-stop shop for all your social marketing needs. They are the only social media consultant you’ll ever need again.
They develop an online marketing strategy using integrated social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Google+, Myspace, and a host of content publishing platforms.
If you’re interested in social media marketing check them out!
The objective of an online survey is to gather information about the person being surveyed. Surveys are formed to extract as much information as possible, but what happens when the answers become forced or false. There is a point were too many questions actually negatively affect the result of your survey.
Ennect suggests a few ideas on how to keep respondents interested and from abandoning ship:
Honesty: Let them know how many questions and approximate completion time
Simplify: Keep your questions brief and to the point
Focus: Stay on survey topic and do not include any “curve-ball” questioning
Don’t Get Greedy: Ask for only what you need and nothing extra
Incentives: Possibly include an incentive for finishing the survey
People are often claiming they don’t have enough time in the day. Seems we can never accomplish everything we would like to do daily. So why waste your precious time doing something can be done automatically?
Byran Brown suggests 3 common areas of implementation.
1) Welcome Programs and Activation Series
- quickly engage new contacts by educating them about your value proposition
2) Nurture Programs
- educate prospects who aren’t yet ready to engage a sales resource and gently guide these buyers through the purchase process
3) Lifecycle Messages
- buyers crave different content at different times in the buying cycle
I found this article interesting and relevant to my studies. The part I enjoyed most was how Bryan explained setting up campaigns in different stages, each one focusing on another aspect of the overall campaign.
LinkedIn, the most widely-used social recruitment site, provides a directory of applications available for users to add to their profiles. Applications cover a variety of subjects – from creative portfolios, to travel, to blogs..
There are two main blogging applications available for LinkedIn profiles- Blog Link and WordPress – and together, they support all types of blogs.
Check out likedIn.com or the link below to see if linkedIn is right for you!
For the weekend, the brother and I met up with my Godfather and went to a tournament in Yellowknife. This is the third, time I’ve played up here and it is quite the experience. It’s much colder for obvious reasons, the town is very small, and their are a couple frozen ponds to play shinny!
The team we are playing for is Whati, a very tight knit community and three hours away by truck. I love playing with these guys. They are all young fathers around 35-45 years old and very laid back. All their kids are nice too, but they are a little on the shy side. I enjoy trying to get them by involving them in conversation or stick handling in the dressing room. Someday, I’d like to come up and host a hockey camp for all the youngsters.
Today we attended an medieval ice castle. It was much larger then I expected. It had a couple small rooms, one big room with a guy playing folk music, and a slide! After that we went dog sledding. That was quite fun as well. I almost didn’t put on these big inuit jackets, pants, gloves, and boots they offered…but I’m glad I did as the wind chill was cold during the ride. I could feel my frozen slowly freezing.
Now I’m back at the hotel getting ready for another hockey game.
- Enger out -
McDonalds is now utilizing mobile marketing to inform, educate, and expose their new fish mcbites. McDonalds relies on its loyal customer base to create buzz and excitement about its new product offerings.
The McDonald’s mobile ad reads, “Fish McBites. Hurry, They Won’t Last Long.”
Users encouter a media rich interface where they can learn more about the products and create their own mixes with fishes.
Today it is necessary to reach your target market using ‘social media marketing.’ These sites are tremendous tools for increasing awareness and product positiong. Customers today are reliant on the internet and their social media sites. People are commonly expressing the opionions, both positive and negative, online. Using Facebook as a marketing tool is a great alternative to pricey tactics and methods. Facebook is now a melting pot of cultures and age. It is here where companys can gain information to better position themself against their competition.
You can utilize Facebook in three key ways…
- gain new clients
- stay in touch with current clients
- promote sales and new product offerings
Buzz and PR is often easily accesible using Facebook and other socail media sites.
After my last post I decided to continue with the trend of AdWord advertising. I searched the web and found an interesting article explaining how to stretch a small budget to create an effective AdWord campaign. I found this particularly valuable considering my current commitments to Refine Express Spa AdWords campaign.
Jeff Un, the SEM Marketing Manager at VerticalResponse, says the “key to advertising with a small budget is to narrow your campaign and be as targeted as possible.” He narrows down the top 5 Google AdWords Tips For A Small Budget.
1. 1. Google Search
2. Keyword Selection
3. Geotargeting
4. Day Parting
5. Device Targeting
I found that applying Un’s tips helped me plan and position my campaign more efficiently and effectively. Making the most on a small budget is something I’m sure most of us are used to. Next time you’re creating an AdWords campaign make sure to make the most of your money by utilizing Un’s technical tips!
‘Must Have’ emarketing tips!
1. It’s All About Keywords
2. Using Keywords Effectively On Your Website
3. Measuring Visitation To Your Website
4. Your Rating With Search Engines
5. Helping Search Engines Find All Of Your Web Pages
6. Advertising Your Site Online
7. Setting Up An Affiliate Network
8. Supporting Your Customers Online
9. Generating Leads To Your Website
10. Direct Marketing To Your Customers
I found these tips helpful when planning my ad campaign. The site offers a link to download a free trial of Wordtracker… which provides you with the amount of times a keyword has been searched over the past 24 hours. This program has assisted my decision making process allowing me more time to focus on other aspects of my e-marketing campaign.
Lately, I’ve been looking for a job and although I haven’t been offered a job that I’m really interested I’ve spent a lot of time with my good buddy working on photoshop CS6. Together we are the creative directors for one of our school’s business associations. For this association, known as the International Business Association, we focus on the marketing aspect which includes creating posters to promote our events. We both have never received any formal training, so we have been learning as we go and it’s been fun. It also motivates us to do our best knowing that our posters will posted be all over the school and probably judged to some extent.
In my personal time, I also have jumped on the photography bandwagon. For this hobby I have also been able to apply my newly learned photoshop skills to edit the gazillions of photos I’ve taken. As I am still a beginner I’ve been using basic editing tools to sharpen my photos and make people’s skin nicer. But when I get some more time I will get crazy. The next technique on my agenda is how to clone people. It’s certainly been fun and I hope to get better with time.
If only I had my camera gear when I was in Europe..
-Enger out-
Trying to optimize your search engine results?
DR. Pete cheats a little by dividing his #1 tip into 5 smaller subheadings. Dr. Pete argues all single-tactic approaches are short-term at best and that it all boils down to diversifying your resources.
The 5 kinds of diversity are
1A. Diversify Anchor Text
What’s the best way to make your anchor text seem “natural?” Stop obsessing over it. Yes, anchor text is a signal, but any solid link profile is going to naturally use relevant text and appear in the context of relevant text.
1B. Diversify Your Links
Are guest posts the one true answers to all of life’s questions or are they a scourge on our fragile earth? Often people discover that guests posts make great links; however, some become obsessed with this notion and run crazy creating 1,000’s of guests links to their site. Although this may increase your site activity, your ratings will suffer. At best going you’re to be “doomed to diminishing returns… [the best tactic is to] diversify your profile, and you’ll diversify your risk.”
1C. Diversify Traffic Sources
People are much to dependent on Google. You need to think beyond Google. I know it’s tough, and it’s going to take time and money, but if you’re dependent on Google for your livelihood, then your livelihood is at serious risk.
1D. Diversify Your Marketing
Taking shortcuts only takes you so far. It’s time to think about what you do and why it has value. “If you understand your value proposition, content and marketing naturally flow out of that… find out what your company does that’s unique, exciting, and resonates with customers.”
1E. Diversify Your Point Of View
The New Year is the perfect time for a fresh perspective. Change your outlook on your life. If you don’t find what you’re doing enjoyable or interesting, how do you think your coworkers or customers feel. Take pride in your role and enjoy life’s challenges as they come.
N.G. Williams & Associates Ltd.
502-850 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C V6C 1E1
Telephone (604) 683-9351 | (604) 683-9311
www.ngwilliams.com | info@ngwilliams.com
SPECIAL INSURANCE MARKETS
Since I’ve gotten back from my exchange, life’s certainly been a little bit different before I left. The main thing being I’m not as stressed about “working to live”. I know it it will kick in sooner or later, but in the meantime I’ve enjoyed more of a “living to work” mentality that I’ve been influenced from my travels throughout Europe. It has really gotten to me how important the balance of work, personal time and family time is. Before I left, this wasn’t the case, I was more focused on work and volunteering, which is good but definitely stressful at times. After meeting people from around the world live and seeing what they valued made me appreciate the smaller things in life. I really learned how to just “let go” at times over the things I couldn’t control and just live in the moment.
When I was in Grade 11 my Biology teacher (I forget his name) would tell us that grey hairs were directly correlated to stress. Often he would brag about how he didn’t have any grey hairs despite the fact that he was the oldest faculty member (many of which did). He had a full head of brown hair, and he looked younger then most teachers at our school. Apparently, the secret was to never get stressed out, smile, and to not sweat the small stuff. Before I left for the aboard I actually had a couple grey hairs (and it freaked me out, I didn’t want to be a young kid with grey hairs..). But during my exchange, I noticed that my grey hairs weren’t growing as much. I was stoked. It was at that moment I thought of my Biology teacher’s philosophy…could it be that he was right? It sure seems so.
It’s been about time since I’ve got back into “work mode”. I just started a small promo gig which I am really excited about. My main focus though is on pursuing a full-time job or internship for the summer. But no matter what I end up doing, I will always remember to achieve balance in my life.
-Enger out-
Five different social media personality types and ways that you can better interact with them to create a real connection that will make them more open to hearing what you have to say. I really enjoyed searching about this because it is true, there are many personality types and this is a great way to get your business to interact with all kinds of people.
Consider this social media personality type to be someone who is always there listening and absorbing information, but not necessarily participating in the conversation. A connection with a Lurker can be very valuable if approached correctly.
How can you connect with a Lurker?
Newbie’s present a great opportunity for the user to present them with helpful information that will educate them on how to best use social networks. Chances are these users will begin following you before you find them so make a point of going through your new followers regular to identify those that will not have as many followers but appear to be credible.
Predictable users will be more consistent and easy to spot than Lurkers or Newbies. They share regularly. This type is looking for something useful but may be quick to share if something catches their eye.
When trying to engage a Predictable User:
If you use social media in any capacity you are well aware of the Chronic Over Sharer’s. Say for example you open Twitter on your desktop or smartphone and your entire home feed is filled with messages from that one person to the point where you have a hard time finding what other users have shared. Because of their trigger happy approach to social media there are definite drawbacks and advantages to this user type.
Drawbacks: This user will share almost anything and other users may stop “listening” to them because they can’t handle the constant influx of social shares.
Advantages: If this person is very credible, there will be a lot of people watching what they say very closely. Also, if you present them with an interesting message to share, chances are they will be open to sharing with their network.
Keep in mind that this person is looking for quality over quantity and may be harder to attract.
The more you know about individual customers/visitors the better. Simply ask your Thank You page visitors to answer a few questions by leaving a comment
Establishing and building a strong community around your brand is essential for building a fan base, which leads to more sales for your business. These are definitely great ways to get your content noticeable towards consumers, I learned by using these tactics,they will have a significant impact on promotion for your brand.
These are ten great tips I came across! I have implemented them towards my projects in e-commerce and they have helped me understand the relevant content that is needed for a business to grow.
1) Targeted Content
Keep in mind to whom you want to connect through your content and what purpose you wish to achieve.
2) Unique Content- The creation of unique content relies on a balance between research and inspiration. Engage in activities that inspire you, research companies you believe have developed stellar content
3) Relevant Content- To stand out from the masses, produce something relevant.
4) Expert Content- To build a reputation as an expert in your field, you must provide detailed, business information.
5) Visual Content- Content should be pleasant to look at and easy to consume.
6) Useful and Educational Content
It is possible to create content with outstanding information that never serves to connect you with the right audience. This occurs when your information is not helpful for the right people.
7) Personal Content- Communicating who you are and what drives your motivations is a chance to provide content no one else can provide.
8 ) Creative Content- Creativity in content marketing involves the combination of the analytical and artistic sides of your brain.
9) Entertaining Content- If you succeed in making your reader smile while reading your content, you are on your way to making a lasting impression.
10) Context of Content- Context, in this case, means creating relevant content for the right audience in the right social network, at the right time. It also might refer to the different angles your content takes.
So what does all this mean? When you’re planning your social media strategy, be clear about your goals for each tweet you put out there. Are you sharing your content to drive traffic to your website that you eventually want to convert into leads or customers? If so, then your goal should be get Twitter followers to click on the links in your tweets. A few ways to optimize your Twitter clickthrough rate is to experiment with link placement within your tweets, use between 120 and 130 characters in your tweets, and test publishing frequency, word choice, and timing
Visit this website below for a free E-book of how to attract customers with Twitter
http://www.hubspot.com/free-ebook-how-to-attract-customers-with-twitter/?hsCtaTracking=c04d0938-1c7a-41e2-8ec8-9e4136f7b2c5%7C6752e886-85c8-4978-8e0e-71c8c5a2e8e1
So it’s that time of the year again: Movember
The month where men growth their staches long and dirty, to the dismay of many females. This month is just great, it supports a good cause, creates awareness, and gives men an excuse to grow a stache. Furthermore, mustachios are a great conversation starters. Breaking that ice is easy as pie!
I just joined a mo’space team for kicks and hopefully I can raise some money. If you feel generous perhaps you should check out my page http://mobro.co/bryaneng
-Enger out-
Researching various types of business platforms, I came across this blog which is called Squam Creative services blog. The blog was very informative in showing seven ways to create online content. The seven tips help to create and reuse online content to drive online business from the seminar staring Chris Baggott CEO and co-founder of Compendium
1)USE YOUR BLOG AS A HUB FOR YOUR ONLINE CONTENT
2)USE YOUR BLOG AS A HUB FOR YOUR ONLINE CONTENT
3)ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS TO GENERATE FEEDBACK
4)INVITE CUSTOMERS TO SUBMIT PHOTOS AND VIDEO
5)ENCOURAGE SOCIAL SHARING
6)TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FACEBOOK
7)RECYCLE YOUR ONLINE CONTENT
It’s been around two months since I’ve come back from Europe. Since then, it’s taken some time to adjust to the people, food, environment, and so on, but never the rain. I think it barely sprinkled 2-3 times. Nothing like today.
Bring on the boots. Bring on the umbrellas.
-Enger out-
I was searching the web to find more insight into social media and I came across these great blogs, which helped we greatly.
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forum.php
http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/01/17/top-social-media-blogs-2012/