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![]() I love Facebook. Really I do. So don't get me wrong, but using Facebook to build your business without the proper foundational internet tools, is preaching to the choir. What? Facebook is essentially a gated community. Unless you are already "in", you are not going to see much in that neighborhood. The internet is "open", so how does someone find you there? You already know the answer.
FOLLOW ONE SIMPLE RULE: If it is interesting enough for Facebook, it should be on your blog first.
Many companies, big and small, do not understand the important differences between brand and marketing.
Brand and marketing, and the difference between the two, is not just misunderstood in business. It is misunderstood in most companies and even in their own marketing departments. Branding: a promise delivered Common definition of a brand is that it is a "promise delivered". This is the best definition of what a brand is that I have come across in my career. You make a promise to customers and colleagues with everything you do and, to be successful, you must deliver on that promise every single time. The idea that a brand is a badge, a name or a colour is just a tiny fraction of what a brand actually is. Your brand is "only everything" within your company. As a result, it's imperative to define what it stands for. You have to identify your target audience and what they want, say why you are better than your competitors and come up with a short statement that describes your brand's purpose. Some businesses know what they are from day one and as long as they stay small and keep the same employees, then they may not need to repeat this exercise. However, for most firms, things change - sales drop, people leave or a competitor threatens your patch. Then what do you do? If you define what your brand stands for then it becomes easier to make decisions - who you should hire, what products to sell, how your communications should sound and even what your office environment should look like. The key to unlocking the power of your brand is involving your employees. Take them with you through this process and have a brand expert on hand to help guide you. This does not need to be costly or take up too much time. However, once this is done, it could set up a brand strategy for your business that lasts for years. What marketing delivers Marketing is defined by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as "The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably". Marketing, then, is an integral part of your brand. It helps you to communicate the promise that you want customers and prospects to know about. Your marketing should also be based on your brand positioning, personality, values and tone of voice that have all been defined and communicated among your staff. In essence, marketing is what you do to get your message or promise to customers, while your brand is how you keep the promise made through delivery to customers and colleagues. What is your company’s mission? While it’s easy to focus on specific tasks such as improving lead conversion for a client, it’s sometimes easy to forget the larger picture. In other words, your clients have their own goals and mission for their business. Will the marketing strategy you create for the client fulfill that overarching mission? Who is your ideal customer? It’s important to avoid making assumptions about your clients and their ideal audience. It’s important to ask for their ideal client so that you can adjust the marketing strategy accordingly. For instance, it wouldn’t be wise to target all prospective homeowners for a homebuilding company, especially if the homebuilders specialize in luxury homes. Specificity is key. Will you be introducing new products or services soon? As you embark on a marketing strategy, it’s important to be aware of any company updates that could affect the way you market a company or product. If you’re aware of any upcoming releases or services, you can better create a strategy for lead conversion. What are issues that customer service regularly faces? One of the key strategies in lead conversion is addressing common concerns among prospective buyers. When you work with the customer service department, you can accurately assess issues that you will face as crafting a marketing strategy. By familiarizing yourself with these issues, you can proactively create a marketing strategy that alleviates consumer doubts. Who are your competitors? By learning the specific competitors of a client, you can create a marketing strategy that is not only competitive, but aggressively reaches into the market. This will help boost your client’s lead-conversion rates, resulting in a happier client and a successful marketing strategy. What is your voice? One of the key factors in any marketing strategy is the voice that is used. You’ll want to stay as close as possible to your client’s voice to ensure consistency not only within their website, but throughout their marketing outreach as well. Consistency is one of the key factors that makes a powerful impression on prospective clients, improving lead conversion. If you’re unsure about a client’s voice, ask for samples so that you can embrace the personality of their business. If possible, get more than one sample so that you have more examples to pull from. What is your specific goal? Does the client simply want to increase exposure? Are they expecting sales to double? Improve lead conversion by 27.5 percent? By knowing the client’s specific goal, you can create a marketing strategy to fulfill that need. No matter how great of a job you do, if those goals aren’t met, the client will be dissatisfied, so being clear about this is crucial! NEXT ARTICLE: WHAT IS SWOT ANALYSIS?
![]() Unless you have a site that can answer this question and drive business to you, this is no joke but a legitimate question. Is your business on Google? Do clients find you on web searches? Wonder if you need a website? Want a website, but not the hassle? No worries. We understand and can help. I consult to a lot of nonprofits and small businesses. I kept hearing how people hated their websites but either lacked the resources or funds to change them after investing thousands to get a site. So these sites sat online never altered because no-one knew how to edit them. It's like a front door that no-one ever answers. Who wants that? Problem solved. Good Ink now offers websites that anyone can maintain, update and keep current - and it's all included in one price. No hidden fees. Everything is included right down to the Google analytic links and a mobile version. Start from nothing and have a fully functional site in one week! Whether you already own a domain name, or just need to revamp a website, Good Ink can help. From online stores, text alerts, POS system connectivity and galleries. We pride ourselves in taking the "geek" out of the design and making this critical marketing process as easy as possible. Once your site is designed and built to your specifications, Good Ink provides a custom 24/7 Client Portal that gives you access to editing your website at any time with simple tools to change pictures, add text or add pages. After all - It's your website! Tell us what you want it to do for your business, and we'll figure out how to build a site that works for you. WEBSITE plans & pricing to suit every business >![]() If you had a site built by Good Ink then a Blog is in your future. Didn't get one at set-up? Call me. We'll get you up and running right away. But you're reading this, so we'll assume you are ready to roll with that BLOG So what do you need to know?
![]() Congratulations. You've opened your editor and written a BLOG (if you need some guidance on writing a BLOG post refer to "Better Blogging Tips and Tricks"). Once you publish those words of wisdom... what next? Why write at all if you aren't taking advantage of free social media? Once you hit that Publish Button, your BLOG posts just sit idle, awaiting an audience. Chances are if you have a new website, you don't have an audience yet. Here is exactly how to build an audience and get folks sharing your posts:
![]() IF YOU'RE NOT USING GOOGLE ANALYTICS TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL TO MANAGE YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS, YOU MIGHT BE MISSING OUT ON A WHOLE WORLD OF DATA POTENTIAL. BY KINJAL ADESHARA An e-commerce site is an excellent way of generating revenue with minimum physical effort--but that doesn’t mean it can thrive on its own. Tools like Google Analytics are key for your e-commerce site's survival. Access to data and the ability to analyze it are the foundation on which successful online stores are built. Study of web analytics reports from Google Analytics can help you get useful insights into important factors like campaigns that are actually working, pages that are getting lots of attention, and products that get little response from customers. However, in order to get all kinds of extensive metrics regarding your store, you will need to customize certain core areas of Google Analytics. Doing so will help you boost your sales, and it will also aid in increasing your site's overall value for customers. Get ready to make the most of your e-commerce site with these five crucial customizations in Google Analytics: ![]() By Ryan Pinkham w J HILLIE edits by me When it comes to getting started on Pinterest, people tend to fall into one of these three categories: I’ve heard of Pinterest, don’t know what it is, and would like to learn more… I understand what Pinterest is, but don’t know how to get started… I joined Pinterest because someone told me I should, but I haven’t really done anything with it… If you find yourself in any of these categories—this post was written for you. Do you know how to get around on Pinterest? It’s a good idea—before you start using Pinterest to market your business—to create a personal profile to help learn the ropes. Get familiar with the language (pin, repin, boards, etc.) and explore the different pages and features that Pinterest offers. After you’ve answered those very important questions, you’re ready to get started building your presence on Pinterest. Here are 10 things you need to do to get started… 1. Get your names straightened out As of right now, Pinterest does not offer “official” brand pages for businesses or organizations. For that reason, things can sometimes get a little tricky when choosing the right user name for your account. On Pinterest, there are two names you need to be aware of: your username and your account name. Your username is the name that will be used in the URL of your Pinterest page (www.pinterest.com/username), but will not be the name that is displayed on your profile. The name that will be displayed on your Pinterest page (and will be the name that people use to search for you on Pinterest) is your account name. So if you’re setting up a page for your business, Pinterest will still ask for your “First Name” and “Last Name.” What you will need to do is fill in those fields as if your business’ name was your name. (For example, Constant Contact would fill in the account name as First Name: Constant, Last Name: Contact.) Until Pinterest launches “official” brand pages, users will have to split their business name into the “First Name” and “Last Name” fields. |
JuleneJulene Hunter makes good design accessible and affordable. She co-founded two software companies,and has been practicing digital and creative arts in all its forms for over 30 years. Archives
June 2016
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Julene Hunter - Creative Works & Solutions
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© Julene Hunter retains copyright on all artwork and design created and retains rights to use for promotion purposes, reproductions, etc. Artwork and images may not be used or reproduced without the artist written permission.
Copying Images from this web-site or posting these images to another web-site, without written permission is a copyright violation, and is protected by U.S. Copyright Laws.