Blog Topic: Internet Marketing

If you’re not a big social media user, you might not be familiar with the term or the concept of hashtags, let alone know how to use hashtags in your social media marketing.  Even so, you’ve probably noticed these pound signs (#) used in front of a topic or keywords on everything from tweets to the bottom of your TV screen during popular programs.

Hashtags were created by Twitter users back in 2007 as a way to categorize messages.  Since then, they’ve become a frequently used notation to categorize topics throughout social networks, such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube and Tumblr.  Some hashtags are single words (#marketing), while others are phrases (#marketingtrends), and the primary purpose is to bring conversations about the same topic into a single thread for users to view and discuss.

So you might be wondering, “How do hashtags relate to my social media marketing?”  Well, believe it or not, hashtags can help you market your brand, capitalize on popular trends and get your message out.  Here are some tips for how to use hashtags to promote your business:

Local Spotlight: Pat Peppard’s Loft at 420

From time to time we like to showcase a current or recent client, but this particular client is especially near and dear to our heart because she and her amazing event venue are right here in Wichita, KS!

Pat Peppard, the owner of the Loft at 420 in downtown Wichita, came to us several months ago in need of a website.  As a local event venue owner, she knew she needed a strong web presence in order to attract new clients through the web.

Through the course of her project, we focused on three main objectives.  Basically, they could be summarized as three tips for how to market a venue effectively:

Take a good look at your marketing materials and website.  Does the language used sound formal, manufactured or “sales-y”?  If you answered “yes,” you’re far from alone, but you need to hear this: high-pressure sales messages and corporate-speak are out!  Straight talk and human language are in.

In today’s marketplace, the consumer base is dominated with Generation X-ers and Y-ers. They don’t want to spend time interpreting complicated, obscure messages. They want honesty, authenticity and transparency.

This idea is all part of a much broader marketing concept called generational marketing, which is based on the premise that the generation in which people are born has a significant influence on who they are, what they believe, what their values are, their life skills—and yes, what they buy! Basically, the four main generational categories are:

• Millennials or Generation Y-ers (born after 1980)
• Generation X-ers (born between 1965 and 1980)
• Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964)
• Matures (born (born between 1909 and 1945)

It’s the age of video!

It’s more important than ever to position yourself as an expert.  Why?  Because your potential clients are now bombarded with marketing messages, influenced by social proof and impacted by industry and economic conditions.  Positioning yourself as an expert can help you get more bookings, sell more products, attract new clients and make more money! 

But positioning yourself as an expert doesn’t just mean telling people you’re an expert.  Your expertise in a topic area or your ability to speak, write or consult is a feature.  You need to focus on the benefits– in other words, the value your clients will get from your products and services.  Let’s consider an example.

One of our favorite clients, Jon Petz, helps organizations transform boring meetings into vehicles for innovation, motivation and decision-making (the benefit he offers).  We worked with Jon in the past to create an award-winning website for his groundbreaking book Boring Meetings Suck.  Well now that Jon has become the leading meetings expert, he realized his website needed to be repositioned to reflect his expanded brand and expertise.  That’s where we came in.

If You’re Sending the Same Message to Multiple Markets, You’re Missing Out on Conversions!

Think about your prospects…  Likely, your business has at least a couple different target markets.  Try to put yourself in the mind of each.  What does each target market want?  Why does each target market take action?

Sending the same marketing message to multiple markets waters down the message and will likely reduce responses.  That means that it’s vital to target your message to each type of specific  prospect, which is aptly called target marketing.  Your goal should be to aim for sending specific messages to specific audiences.

For example, one of our recent clients, BRODY Professional Development, works with three uniquely different target markets: leaders, managers and individual contributors.  Each market has specific training needs, which means that one message simply won’t work.

That’s why we incorporated three target marketing funnels on the homepage of BRODY’s new website at www.BRODYPro.com, as well as special landing pages for each of their target markets.  The headlines, sales copy and imagery for each target market is unique.  Here’s what I mean…

What kind of LinkedIn user are you?

Are you simply accepting connections from clients, vendors, and co-workers?

Or are you actively using it to increase leads, grow your business, and improve your bottom line?

Unfortunately, just having a profile on LinkedIn and accepting invitations isn’t enough to drive leads. And if that’s all you’re doing, you’re leaving revenue on the table.

Picture this: You’re researching a product you’ve been thinking about buying… we’ll use shoes, for example. Since you’re shopping online and can’t actually try the shoes on, you want to talk to a real person to ask a few questions. On the company’s website, you see the following phone number: 1 (800) 555-SHOE.

Tell me, what comes to mind? Do you envision a call center where your call will be answered by a faceless robot with a monotone voice? Or maybe an under-trained customer service person?  Do you dread pressing 1, 2, 3, or 4 in frustration as you try to find a real person at the end of an automated menu? Chances are, this experience probably HAS happened to you before.

What problems do people pay you to make go away?  Why do they spend money with you instead of your competition?  

If you’re like our client, compatibility expert Elizabeth E. George, you can quickly and easily answer the above questions because you’ve already clearly defined your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).  Your USP is that special “thing” or “things” that people look to you for and that differentiate you from the competition.

Although Elizabeth was clear on her USP– helping individuals and groups find forever love, relationship and marriage compatibility– she needed our help in using the web to position herself as an expert.

Non-profit Website Design Example

Coinciding with our newest website launch, we’ve noticed significant web interest around the idea of non-profit website design and development. 

Certainly, the nature of such an organization has a unique set of needs that differs from the standard website selling products or touting services.