Busting 4 Myths of Social Media Advertising
It’s common ground; It’s not only the great content that will get you far, but it’s also the budget. Yes, that’s right, advertising is that little extra push that will help your brand grow and your message travel great distances. It’s not a coincidence that social media networks have put effort into building meticulous advertising solutions that will suit everyone’s needs.
However, there are still many people who don’t completely trust advertising solutions. Before agreeing with them and reckoning that ads are just the black hole of budget spending, let’s have a look at this infographic, created by AOL Platforms, that will help us shake the myth of “advertising is just money spent”.
– Social Media channels influence buying decisions, so boosting them with advertising, may help you close more deals.
– Although organic growth is crucial, target ads help brands reach broader audience and influence decisions. More specifically more the difference between organic and paid conversion is more than 25%.
– Say you advertise with the same amount and targeting on different social networks. This doesn’t mean that you will get the same results. Each social network has its own rate. Just like each social network has its own audience.
A company website is a must-have in today’s Internet-driven economy. But while most companies have a website, few use them to their full potential to drive sales and revenue. That’s a shame, because websites are often a major investment in terms of time and money, and they can be a lot of work to keep updated. So if you aren’t maximizing the return on investment of your site, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Luckily, there are a few relatively simple updates you can make to your website that can have a huge impact on customer attraction and retention, sales, revenue and long-term brand loyalty. These steps don’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment and can be implemented by small companies and multinational corporations alike. There are five common areas that most company websites can improve upon and expect to see an immediate boost in revenue. Taken together, they have the potential to increase your revenue by 300% or more (depending, of course, on your industry, location and a variety of other factors).
Consumers love video — and so should you.
Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text,
Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text, so ditch the long-winded product descriptions and opt for dynamic video content visitors can engage with on your website. Videos on your landing page can increase conversion rates by 86%, and 44% of customers purchase more products on sites that provide informational videos — and these numbers are only rising. Customers also tend to stay longer on sites with videos, and even better — they are more likely to return. Engaging product videos, customer testimonials and even tours of your work space can help increase conversions. Potential opportunity: Up to 86% increase in sales
The global economic potential of online communication totals $45 trillion. But if your site only offers content in English, you miss out on a whopping two-thirds of that market potential. Making your website available for multilingual — and multicultural — audiences will help you reach a much bigger slice of the pie, improving your overall market potential by as much as 200%. Choose a translation management system that integrates into your site; it’s much more efficient than manual translations, which often require time-consuming email communications with translators. New translation tools make it easy to roll out and maintain translated websites for the long-term. Beyond translation, it’s important to be sensitive to the different cultural norms of your markets. Make sure you don’t make the same blunders as companies like Pepsi, whose light-blue branding alienated an entire market of consumers who associated the color with death. By preparing your site with localized content, you open a world of new opportunities to your business — literally. Potential opportunity: Up to 200% increase in sales
On Cyber Monday, Amazon sold 36.8 million items worldwide. Minutes of downtime could have cost the company a big chunk of change. Same goes for your site. If it isn’t loading fast enough, you can lose customers before they even get a glimpse of your content and products. In fact,
57% of visitors abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.
57% of visitors abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. It’s important that your website is resilient and scales to meet demand, since 24% of people cite downtime as the reason they abandoned their shopping carts. Improving your site’s scalability will prevent slow load-times and downtime, ultimately keeping more customers on your website and driving more purchases. Make sure to build your website on an elastic cloud platform that maintains your content and application quality, even when major traffic surges hit. And make sure to frequently test out your page speed on Google. Potential opportunity: 24% increase in sales
The majority of consumers access sites from multiple devices, so implement responsive design to provide a consistent visitor experience no matter where customers are accessing content. This year, 29% of all ecommerce transactions are expected to take place on mobile or tablet. Responsive design gives you the opportunity to take advantage of those sales, and also eases your back-end site management and ups your SEO. Make sure you’re using a modern CMS platform like WordPress or Drupal, which make it easy to enable responsive site design. Need more convincing? Think about responsive design as a way to future-proof your content, not just for various screen sizes and resolutions, but also for digital experiences on new devices introduced as the Internet of Things takes flight. Potential opportunity: 29% increase in sales
It’s important to include great content for your site visitors throughout the entire path to purchase, and some of the most important pieces of content on your site are customer reviews. Why? Think Angie’s List — which is built entirely on the idea that people trust their friends and neighbors to recommend reliable professionals. According to Forrester Research, consumers trust brand recommendations from friends 70% of the time, and ads only 10% of the time. Consumer reviews act as this kind of friendly recommendation on your product page. Make sure to include them on your site — and expect to see an 18% uplift in sales online. Potential opportunity: 18% increase in sales Adjustments like these can yield huge results for your bottom line business goals. Don’t be afraid to test out new methods and techniques to make your content more engaging and your site more cost-effective overall. The most important thing to keep in mind? Your customer. Making your website as accessible as possible is key to increasing sales and improving revenue.
A company website is a must-have in today’s Internet-driven economy. But while most companies have a website, few use them to their full potential to drive sales and revenue. That’s a shame, because websites are often a major investment in terms of time and money, and they can be a lot of work to keep updated. So if you aren’t maximizing the return on investment of your site, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Luckily, there are a few relatively simple updates you can make to your website that can have a huge impact on customer attraction and retention, sales, revenue and long-term brand loyalty. These steps don’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment and can be implemented by small companies and multinational corporations alike. There are five common areas that most company websites can improve upon and expect to see an immediate boost in revenue. Taken together, they have the potential to increase your revenue by 300% or more (depending, of course, on your industry, location and a variety of other factors).
Consumers love video — and so should you.
Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text,
Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text, so ditch the long-winded product descriptions and opt for dynamic video content visitors can engage with on your website. Videos on your landing page can increase conversion rates by 86%, and 44% of customers purchase more products on sites that provide informational videos — and these numbers are only rising. Customers also tend to stay longer on sites with videos, and even better — they are more likely to return. Engaging product videos, customer testimonials and even tours of your work space can help increase conversions. Potential opportunity: Up to 86% increase in sales
The global economic potential of online communication totals $45 trillion. But if your site only offers content in English, you miss out on a whopping two-thirds of that market potential. Making your website available for multilingual — and multicultural — audiences will help you reach a much bigger slice of the pie, improving your overall market potential by as much as 200%. Choose a translation management system that integrates into your site; it’s much more efficient than manual translations, which often require time-consuming email communications with translators. New translation tools make it easy to roll out and maintain translated websites for the long-term. Beyond translation, it’s important to be sensitive to the different cultural norms of your markets. Make sure you don’t make the same blunders as companies like Pepsi, whose light-blue branding alienated an entire market of consumers who associated the color with death. By preparing your site with localized content, you open a world of new opportunities to your business — literally. Potential opportunity: Up to 200% increase in sales 3. Prevent downtime
On Cyber Monday, Amazon sold 36.8 million items worldwide. Minutes of downtime could have cost the company a big chunk of change. Same goes for your site. If it isn’t loading fast enough, you can lose customers before they even get a glimpse of your content and products. In fact,
57% of visitors abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.
57% of visitors abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. It’s important that your website is resilient and scales to meet demand, since 24% of people cite downtime as the reason they abandoned their shopping carts. Improving your site’s scalability will prevent slow load-times and downtime, ultimately keeping more customers on your website and driving more purchases. Make sure to build your website on an elastic cloud platform that maintains your content and application quality, even when major traffic surges hit. And make sure to frequently test out your page speed on Google. Potential opportunity: 24% increase in sales
The majority of consumers access sites from multiple devices, so implement responsive design to provide a consistent visitor experience no matter where customers are accessing content. This year, 29% of all ecommerce transactions are expected to take place on mobile or tablet. Responsive design gives you the opportunity to take advantage of those sales, and also eases your back-end site management and ups your SEO. Make sure you’re using a modern CMS platform like WordPress or Drupal, which make it easy to enable responsive site design. Need more convincing? Think about responsive design as a way to future-proof your content, not just for various screen sizes and resolutions, but also for digital experiences on new devices introduced as the Internet of Things takes flight. Potential opportunity: 29% increase in sales
It’s important to include great content for your site visitors throughout the entire path to purchase, and some of the most important pieces of content on your site are customer reviews. Why? Think Angie’s List — which is built entirely on the idea that people trust their friends and neighbors to recommend reliable professionals. According to Forrester Research, consumers trust brand recommendations from friends 70% of the time, and ads only 10% of the time. Consumer reviews act as this kind of friendly recommendation on your product page. Make sure to include them on your site — and expect to see an 18% uplift in sales online. Potential opportunity: 18% increase in sales Adjustments like these can yield huge results for your bottom line business goals. Don’t be afraid to test out new methods and techniques to make your content more engaging and your site more cost-effective overall. The most important thing to keep in mind? Your customer. Making your website as accessible as possible is key to increasing sales and improving revenue.
Are you planning to hire a professional to build your online store? If you’re not a developer and have limited technical knowledge, it can be difficult to hire the right person for your project. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We’re here to help!
To help you make the best decision, we’ve gathered the 10 questions to ask before hiring an e-commerce developer to build your online store. Make sure you have answers to these important questions before you spend any time and money.
This is something that you should do extensive research on prior to interviewing candidates. You want to find an e-commerce software that is powerful, intuitive and easy to manage. After all, when the developer is done building your site, you’ll be the one working with it on a daily basis.
During your research, make sure you watch out for all the expensive e-commerce software out there. You don’t want to get stuck paying hefty monthly fees or commissions on all your sales.
Don’t let the developer feed you a bunch of techy jargon. Ask for real life examples of e-commerce sites that they have built before. Pay close attention to the user experience, features and design of each site they share. You should also give them a basic idea of what you’re looking for and ask them to show you examples of online stores out there that they would be able to replicate.
3. What are the terms of our contract?
No matter the case, you absolutely want to have a written agreement that outlines the following:
Fees and payment terms – Some developers prefer to be paid hourly for their work and others will give you a price for a project.
Additional fees – You want to understand exactly what’s included in the fees. Some common “surprise” fees that you want to negotiate upfront are: hosting, SSL certificate, additional features, themes, and backup solutions.
Deadlines – Set a date or milestones for when the project or different elements of the project should be complete. Include a clause in your agreement that directly addresses if there’s a delay.
Include all expectations – Write down everything that you expect to be delivered on the final site.
Post development – What are the fees for maintenance after the project is complete? How quickly can I expect your help?
4. How will we communicate?
This question is often forgotten but it’s important to establish the means of communication throughout the development of your site. You want to be involved throughout the process, not just when it’s finished.
Decide if you will use Skype, Google Hangout or MSN to speak regularly. I strongly suggest using a project management tool such as Asana or Basecamp to keep all communication organized and keep you updated on the progress of your site.
This may be a bit of a technical question but you really just want the developer to be very clear about how much work they will be putting in.
– Are you using an existing theme or building a custom theme?
– Will you be building any features from scratch?
– Make sure to address these items in your written agreement
6. Will my e-commerce site be mobile friendly?
Now days, this is a must. You want to be able to offer your customers a seamless shopping experience from a mobile and tablet device. Ask your developer what they will do to make sure that your site is mobile friendly and responsive.
7. How will you make it easy for me to edit and manage my site?
Once your online store is up and running, you’ll have to update content, photos, banners, etc. You may even want to be able to add or modify features to your site. Find out what your developer will be doing to make sure that editing your site won’t be a headache every time.
You should have access to absolutely everything! One day this person may no longer be your developer and you’ll need to share passwords and code with a new hire. Ensure that all files, logins and passwords are shared with you. You should be the owner of all the accounts associated with your site. Also, I strongly recommend that your developer explains how they are keeping backups of your site.
Your developer should be implementing SEO best practices and make it easy for you to update should your SEO strategy change. All the money you spend on your online store will go to waste if customers can’t find you!
9. How will you help me track key performance indicators?
This is something you want to address upfront. Understand how you will be able to measure the performance of your site. Great news, tons of KPIs are automatically displayed in your PrestaShop back-office. However, you want your developer to show you how to measure specific elements of your site using Google Analytics.
10. How will you run tests?
Your online store might look nice but if it’s not working properly, what’s the use? Your developer should have specific best practices for testing your site. Make sure that the developer is using a testing environment and not making changes directly on your live store without testing it first. Have them explain their process for testing your entire site, documenting bugs and quick fixes.
This type of information will help you from having to pay for additional support once the project is complete. You want to ensure that testing is done from different mobile devices, browsers, computers and countries.
Now you’re ready to get out there and find the perfect developer to build your online store!
Social media? That’s all Twitter and Facebook, right? And didn’t it start in the last few years?
Not so. Despite appearances, the history of social media traces back as far as the late 1970s, when computer hobbyists Ward Christensen and Randy Suess invented the bulletin board system (BBS). The launch of the Mosaic web browser in 1993 gave birth to the world wide web, and from here we never looked back. From Geocities and Blogger in the late 90s, through to Friendster and MySpace in at the turn of the millennium, the path to present day social stalwarts Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the white-hot Pinterest, is littered with success and failure, innovation and disappointment.
This infographic takes a closer look at the history of social media, circa 1978-2012.
Once you have your website up and running, the next question many entrepreneurs will ask is “What is the best way to market a website?” Well, there are a lot of different options to promote a website, and the best online-marketing strategy will include a combination of all of them. If you have a new website, here are a few ways to help you get the word out.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The hard truth is if search engines don’t know about your website, no one will. As a result, every website owner should invest in solid SEO from a professional company in order to help boost their website in search results. Remember, SEO takes time, so be prepared to wait anywhere from 6-9 months for your desired results.
Paid Search (PPC)
Paid search is a great way to get your website out there in a hurry. In fact, as soon as you organize your PPC campaign and start bidding on keywords, you should start seeing a turnaround. Make sure to test different keyword combinations and ad text to see what strategies are drawing in your target audience most.
Facebook and YouTube Ads
Facebook and YouTube are two of the most visited websites on the Internet. They sell ad space. Buy some of it. Most likely, you won’t regret it.
Social Media
Buying ads on Facebook is not the only way to promote your website on social media. As part of your online marketing strategy, you should build a Facebook business page, a Twitter Page, a Pinterest page, and actively participate on each social-media platform. If you can’t keep up with your social-media marketing, then outsource the work to an agency.
Email marketing
Email marketing is another great way to engage potential clients. Emails remind potential customers that you exist and that you have a lot to offer. In fact, offering your customers a special web promotion in an Email is a great way to market your website.
Guest Blogging
One super easy (and super free) way to market your website is by submitting a guest post to a popular blog with a link back to your website. Bloggers receive a ton of traffic from customers interested in what they have to say. Consider submitting top-notch content to a high-end industry blog. It’s a great way to help people learn about your website.
A Video on the Social Media evolution
When I penned my very first piece less than five months ago just over …
2,234 readers spared a few minutes of their time to read my thoughts. The last time I looked the total was over 103,000 and it is still growing by the minute.
I have covered a variety of business subjects and have touched upon everything from getting promoted to planning ahead and interest has continued to grow on these key subjects.
Thank you to all those who have commented on the various subjects I have tackled in previous months – both positive and negative, its great to read such passionate debate on each post.
I have always believed in the power of social media as it can have a huge impact on your business and personal brand and with this in mind I thought I would share some top tips for using Linked In to your best advantage.
Keep your profile up to date
This may seem very obvious but so many people fail to keep their Linked In profile up to date. More and more people are searching prospective clients or employees before meeting with them and they will look at your profile as a point of reference. Understand how powerful it is, if you google your own name you will proabably find your Linked In profile will appear on the first search page. And don’t forget to use the website links they are great way to get more traffic to your website.
Be interesting and be interested
I much prefer to look at a profile where people are sharing things they are interested in. It adds another dimension to your online personaility and brand. Having an opinion about something you are passionate about is not a bad thing, it shows that are actually interested in what is going on around you and your industry.
Recommend others and they will recommend you
Reccomendations are a great way of people understanding who you are and what people think of you. If you reccomend people make sure you ask them to write a reccomendation about you. The more you give the more you recieve.
Lead them to you
Many use Linked In as a business directory, so if you are a business owner its smart to create a business page and include your branding. Again this is going to increase traffic to your own website and increse brand awareness for your company.
Congratulations! You’ve taken that brave, exciting first step and decided that you must utilise social media in your brand’s marketing arsenal. You’ve configured your Facebook Page, your Twitter profile is looking snappy and LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest are next on your ‘to do’ list…
Welcome! You’re going to have a lot of fun.
So… now what?
Success in social media takes hard work, and a lot of it. There are no quick fixes or ‘get rich now’ solutions. You have to put in the hours. You have to engage your audience. And to do that, you have to have a plan.
This infographic proposes four steps to a social media strategy.
1. Define your goals – what are you trying to accomplish? 2. Define your metrics – how will you measure success? 3. Decide on tactics – what can you do to help accomplish your goals? 4. Execute your strategy – then measure and refine
Most people today, whether self-employed or working for a company, will definitely have an email address, a cell phone and possibly a business card (or resume). But most of them would frown upon the idea of having their own website or blog of their own.
There are lots of reason for not having one, like, not being web savvy, scared of people knowing about them, or something else. However, contrary to what most people think having a personal website or blog has several advantages and benefits even if you have no desire to start an online business.
A website is one of the easiest and ways of telling the world about your hobbies, talents, thoughts or business ideas without spends loads of money. Anyone who has knowledge to share can benefit from a website and in today’s’ declining economy you need every advantage you can to showcase yourself and your talents.
Websites can be used to promote your work experience for an upcoming job interview, showcase artistic creations, it can highlight a product or service you offer and it can also get you acquainted with individuals who have similar interests and hobbies.
Being “online” also makes you global and allows you to advertise worldwide. By having a website you allow potential customers and employers to find you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are in a competitive business and your competitors have a website and you don’t, then you are already behind a few steps in the game.
Websites can also re-establish friendships with long lost buddies. Even if you only have a simple profile on Facebook, it’s better than nothing. I can’t tell you how many times I have found long lost friends on social networks.
Of course there are rules for proper conduct online if you are trying to promote yourself or your business if you want to be taken seriously. That means no inappropriate information or photos, confidential company information, posting a promoting anything unlawful or linking to questionable websites (see Social Media Marketing). What you post must be rated PG and available to everyone. Unless your intentions are to start an adult content related website and if that’s the case, just ignore these rules and moved on!
Below is a list of seven reasons why you need to make a website.
1. Amazing Income Potential
If you are still working at a 9 to 5 job the odds are you won’t be increasing your salary more than around 3% (more if you are one of the lucky few) this year. While at the same time, housing costs are rising, insurance premiums are increasing and gas is back on the rise. You need money and you need it now! So the single greatest feeling from creating your own site or online business is the ability to lessen the dependency on your bi-weekly paycheck and still feel secure that all your bills will be paid. Less time will be spent commuting, stressing over deadlines, staying on your bosses’ good side and figured out how to stretch your money is until the next direct deposit kicks in and more time will be spent expanding your business and brainstorming about how to make your business more profitable. When you operate your own business your earning potential is limitless. Just don’t go into it thinking your going to be some overnight mega-millionaire.
2. You’re The Boss
How many times have you gone to work hoping your boss called off? Well building your own business you no longer have to sit through pointless meetings, ask for a raise, get approval for extended vacation time, put up with office politics, fake your way through another annual review. As your own boss, you set the schedule, make the business plan and reap all the rewards. Plus, being in charge of your website is the best way to keep your site current, because there won’t be a need outsource work and hope they get it done in time.
3. You Don’t Need Your Own Product To Run A Successful Online Business
This may be the biggest advantage to starting your own online business venture (next to #1 Unlimited Income Potential) and perhaps the scariest. Many people are reluctant to start a business online because of this reason – they have nothing to sell. For those people I would suggest affiliate marketing. The concept is simple promote and sell businesses products online and you get a commission off each purchase, sometimes even for a lifetime! Affiliate marketing has helped millions of people realize their own earning potential. It’s convenient because you don’t have to deal with hassles of unsatisfied customers, shipping and delivery, returns, processing inventory and processing credit cards.
By promoting their products, they save money on advertising, which makes them more than happy to pay you your commission.
4. Open 24 Hours A Day Around the World
This means you don’t have to stay by your computer Christmas day or on your birthday. You can create a residual income and make money while you sleep. No more worries of losing sales because of weekends, holiday seasons or different time zones. Your customers all over the world will have access to make purchases whenever they want to. They no longer have to call back during “normal” business hours.
5. Unlimited Advertisement
If you ever advertised in a local newspaper or Pennysaver ad, you know the costs. You are being charged per line, per inch, and per color. I can’t tell you how many times I have run an ad for a service and received little to no calls for MONTHS! It was a complete waste of time and money. Now I’m not saying this is true for all businesses, but it definitely was a waste of time for me. On the Web, there is no limit to how many extras you can add. You can add pictures, articles, newsletters, rates, product images and so much more! With just one web site, you can have almost unlimited advertisement.
6. You Can Create Your Own Online Presence
Just because you don’t have the money the big dogs do, doesn’t mean you can’t have a grade “A’ website. When you create your own website, you decide how you want it to look and what products you want to sell. You can have a simple site with just a few pages or build an extensive site with thousands of pages comparable to multimillion dollar website, the choice is yours. You have total control over it and this alone will set you apart from the millions of websites on the Internet. It will be your personal brand that your customers will come to recognize and trust.
7. Pursuing Your Passion and Living Your Dreams
The key to a successful business is to find something you’re passionate about and figure out a way to make money off it. What do you daydream about? What can you see yourself doing in 5 years? Do your friends come to you for the latest information on techie gadgets? Maybe you should launch a gadget review website.
Figuring out what you’re truly passionate about and finding a way to profit from it may take time, but it’s well worth it. Once you’ve discovered a way to do it, though, you’ll be happier in your professional life.
Creating and maintaining a successful e-business requires hard work and dedication. I wouldn’t suggest quitting your job to start a business right away. Instead, spend some of your free time identifying what you’re passionate about. Then, determine how to create a business around your passion. Start slow and build up your business. Chances are you’ll encounter numerous obstacles and failures, just be sure to have real expectations. If you’re ultimately successful, though, all your efforts will be well worth it.
