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Why Is Social Media Marketing Important?

I get this question often from small business owners. They don't understand the ways in which having an active and successful social media presence can benefit their business.

Online presences have changed and it is important for businesses and non-profit organizations to adapt to these changes and take advantage of the opportunities they offer.

If you have a social media presence your company has the opportunity to:

·         Increase brand awareness by appearing on websites that have millions of users worldwide.

·         Strengthen relationship with current clients by providing constant communication with them and assisting them with their needs.

·         Inform both current and potential customers about services, products and events your company offers.

·         Increase the spread of your information by letting users share your information on Facebook, thus helping you reach new sections of the market.

Understanding what has been stated above, we can see that having a social media profile that is actively maintained and managed gives non-profit organizations and businesses the opportunity to improve their position within their market and increase their income by reaching new clients and keeping old ones happy.

How do you start your social media marketing?

Understanding that your company needs to be present on social networks is extremely important, almost as important as their correct development and use. Make sure that everything that represents your company is something that you are proud off.

There are two ways on going forward with your social media marketing campaigns. You can either go ahead and do it yourself or hire an expert.

Doing it yourself vs. Hiring an Expert

Doing it yourself will save you the money you need to invest for an expert to take care of things, but the time spent on learning all the aspects of social media and working them out, without fully understanding what you are doing, will cost you far more in the long run than hiring a professional. When hiring an expert or a company that specializes in social media marketing you will make sure that everything is being taken care of as it should in a structured manner, with detailed planning to make sure that your social media marketing campaigns reach the goals that are set for them.

Utilizing social media marketing correctly is extremely important to continue being successful as a business. It will help you keep current clients informed and happy with your services as well as help you reach new ones. It is important that this task is performed correctly and even though it is tempting to start performing a social media marketing campaign in-house, you should always seek the help of a professional if you want to save money, time and reach your goals.

Happy Memorial Day from Blue Dog Marketing!

6 Tips for Awesome Landing Page Copy

Your promotion sends people to a specific landing page. How do you convert those people into sale? Here are 8 tips on how to write effective landing page copy that are proven to work.

1) Use customer testimonials.

One of the most powerful conversion content techniques is about letting happy customers write your copy for you. Testimonials are compelling because they show the customer what they will experience if they use your product or service.

Most landing pages that do well have testimonials somewhere on the page. Your best conversion writers are your customers. Let them speak for themselves -- social proof is a powerful addition to your copywriting and marketing strategy.

2) Emphasize the benefits, not the product/service.

Customers don’t really care about your products or services -- in other words, they don't care about the "solution" you're trying to sell to them.

Customers already know the solution they’re looking for. They are capable of learning virtually anything thanks to the internet. In fact, not only do customers know the solution, they also know the features they are looking for, the requirements the product must meet and a benchmark pricing.

If you are pitching only your solution, you’re not giving your customers what they need and want. You need to pitch benefits. It’s okay to mention your solution, because that’s a signal to the customer that he or she is in the right place -- but don’t push that solution. Instead, push the benefits.

3) Write a killer headline.

People don’t read your entire landing page copy. They scan, they skim, and they allow their eyes to dart across the page, but they don’t usually read every word.

Your landing page must adapt to the customer and produce copy that will compel them to convert in spite of their skimming habits. Here’s what customers do pay attention to:

·  The headline.

·  The sub-headline (usually).

·  The pictures.

·  Call-To-Action buttons.

After that, customers may or may not read the following:

·  Major section headings.

·  Bullet points.

·  Short paragraphs.

·  Image captions.

That should give you an idea of what to focus on as you write your conversion copy. The most important piece of content is the ten or fifteen words in the headline. Focus on and nail that, and you’ll have come a long way. You should:

1.   Make your headline big, strong, and clear.

2.   Use a compelling sub-headline that pushes your product’s benefits.

3.   Show large pictures that demonstrate the benefits of your products and explain your message.

4.   Use strong copy in your Call-To-Action.

5.   Break your copy up into major sections, led by a headline with large type.

6.   Use bullet points to discuss benefits of your product. Short bullet points. Not long ones.

7.   Use short paragraphs, rather than long blocks of text. Any paragraph over five lines long can be hard to digest.

8.   Use captions on your images.

4) Keep your writing simple.

The best conversion copy you’re going to read will come in the next two words: Be simple. Simplicity sells.

Here are a few tips for keeping your landing page copy simple:

·  Use a simple sentence structure.

·  Keep sentences short.

·  Use short words. Short words are easy to understand and skim.

·  Don’t get fancy with your wording.

·  Be clear and succinct. Use the most basic words to describe what you’re trying to say.

If you can be simple, you can write great conversion copy.

5) Write like a human.

There’s another technique that will help you crush your competition: Sound like a human being. Here are some specific things you can do to make your writing more personal:

·  Write the way you speak.

·  Use normal words, like the ones you’d use if you were talking to a ten-year old.

·  Use short sentences.

·  Break grammar rules if the writing still sounds good and natural.

·  Be funny.

·  Use first person.

·  Use expressions you’d use in a normal conversation.

6) Ask for readers to take action.

The final technique is the call-to-action. If you don't ask for conversions, you won't get them. That’s why you should start with the end goal in mind -- and the whole point of your landing page is that conversion. All of your copy should be building up to that conversion. Don't be shy!

All in all, boosting conversion rates starts with killer copy. A whole lot depends on the words you use.  With the right copywriting techniques firmly in place, you can achieve higher conversion rates.

4 Reasons to Use Email Marketing

Your small business has to reach out and communicate with your customers. One of the most effective ways of doing this is with email marketing. Since your customers don’t visit your website on a regular basis to learn about the promotions that you have going on, you have to let them know about them. This is where marketing to the inbox can be very helpful.

It Can Be Automated

There's not a lot of work involved when it comes to email marketing. You can set up marketing emails to be sent out to your mailing list when you want. Design your email and write your message, determine when you want to send it out, and schedule it. When the day and time arrives, your email will automatically be sent out to all of the recipients.

Look at your marketing plan and schedule multiple promotions in advance. This can include all of the major holidays so it's one less thing for you to worry about.

It's Informative

Email marketing can contain any message you want. Inform your customers about new products, promotions, a new location opening up, and virtually anything else that is going on. This will ensure you drive traffic to your website on a regular basis.

Make it easy for customers to share your information. Add a "share" button so the info can be posted to their Facebook page. Additionally, people are likely going to forward your email to friends and family if there is value in the email. Take the time to focus on a quality promotion so that there is value - otherwise it is going to end up in the recycling bin and people are going to unsubscribe from your mailing list.

It Keeps You Top of Mind

Other businesses are promoting on a regular basis. If your competition is communicating with your customers more than you are, they may succeed in getting your customers. This could lead to a significant decrease in sales.

With some simple email marketing tactics, you have the ability to tell customers all about you – and give them a reason to re-connect with you.

It’s Affordable Marketing

When you own your own small business, it is important to look for, and use, affordable marketing strategies. Once you have developed a mailing list of your customers, you can use it again and again for the purpose of email marketing. You can create a newsletter or a promotional email to send out to everyone.

Marketing by email is easy. When you provide valuable emails to your customers, you will remain top of mind with your customers and they will continue to do business with you.

Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.

Great Ways Market Your New Small Business

Marketing plans can vary significantly from one business to the other, but the ultimate goal of your marketing plan is to promote your business and sell your product or service. Below are some of the best strategies you can implement to market your new business.

Build a Professional Website

A professionally designed website is so important for your business, your image and your online reputation. You website should be functional and your potential customers should be able to easily see that your business can solve their pain points. If your website is poorly designed or messy, consider hiring a professional to redesign your site.

Create an email list and engage customers with email marketing

Email marketing is the most effective digital marketing strategy. However, many small businesses don't focus on building an email list. A simple email sign-up form on your website can generate great results. It pays to give free eBook or whitepaper that is relevant and useful to your audience. Once you have gathered the emails, start sending marketing emails, newsletters and targeted campaigns to your prospects and current customers.

Offer Special deals

Who doesn't love a discount? Offering discounts and deals is a powerful way to market your business. Promote your offers on your social media and through blog posts. This is a great way to engage new customers while improving your business reach.

Be alive on Social media

Social media can bring your small business a large number of potential customers. Make sure you focus your time and energy on the correct social media channels for your business. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and blogging are great social media outlets where you can connect with your target audience. Pick the one or two that will be best for your specific business. Your posts should be helpful and engaging. Pick a schedule and stick to it. Your readers will come to expect to see something from you on the specific days that you post.

An effective marketing strategy is crucial for the success of any business. Whether you are a startup, small business owner, or been in the industry for several years these proven marketing strategies can help you find new customers while expanding your business.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. - Colin Powell

Using Google+ For Your Business

Small businesses are using social media to expand their markets and reach more potential customers. Social media networks opens up new channels of communication between businesses and customers. Google+ is the latest trend in social media marketing and can have many benefits for your business.

Your Customers Are There

Even if you think your business is already involved in too many social sites, you should know that there is never too many ways to communicate with your customers. By allowing customers into your information circles, you stay top of mind with customers. Google+ is growing in popularity. Your customers are there, so why wouldn't your small business want reach out to them.

Direct Content

One of the reasons people love Google+ is because the content is relevant and valuable. Facebook and Twitter have grown so much in popularity and their sites are full of clutter and useless information. Since Google+ has a direct connection with Google, the content is informative.

It is easy to set up a Google+ page for your business. Give it a try today!

Google's making changes….again!

Today, people take their technology on the go with them. They are using their tablets and smartphones more often to check out a business’ website than ever before.  

Mobile browsing is so widespread it overtook computer browsing last year as the main way people browse the Internet. Because of that change in behavior, Google rolled out a huge change to its search results on April 21.

If you’ve used a smartphone or small table to search online, you have probably found that not every website is “mobile friendly.” By default, websites are built for large computer screens and the website just does not look good on a mobile device. If you are looking at a non-mobile friendly website, you will have to scroll and pan to find the information you want. It really isn’t easy to search a non-mobile friendly site on a smartphone.

This is where Google has stepped in. In order to give mobile users the best web experience possible, Google has made a significant change to their search system. When you run a Google search using a smartphone, the results will be based on whether or not a site is mobile friendly.

In other words, if your business doesn't have a mobile-friendly site, you could end up farther down the results list than a competitor who does have one. Any online business can live or die by its search ranking, so this is a game changer.

Google hasn’t said how much having a mobile-friendly website will affect your search results, but if you don’t have one, now is the time to get one. Even if you don’t care about your Google search rankings, it is still important to keep your customers using mobile devices happy.

If you aren’t sure if your website is mobile friendly or not, Google has a tool that will tell you. Simply click here and type in your website's address. You'll get a pass-fail. If you fail, Google will give you some ideas to improve your site.

Talk to whoever built your website to learn how to make it mobile friendly. Now is the time to get your website mobile friendly.

As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth.