I had the opportunity to attend the Inbound Marketing Summit 2011 in Boston this year along with Donny and Josh, and one of the biggest takeaways from a developer's standpoint is that the best way to enhance user and customer experience with the websites and applications we develop is to add elements of personalization - this creates a "sticky" experience that keeps folks coming back for more over time. So what is a personalized experience?
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One of the most-important aspects of succeeding with a social media strategy is to stick with it. Posting a tweet or two per week isn’t going to cut it. On the other hand, it’s also important to set time aside to devote to your social media accounts. The problem with that is you’ll generate a whole bunch of activity in a short amount of time, and if your followers aren’t paying attention during your scheduled time there’s a good chance they’ll miss your Twitter updates entirely. So, how can you keep your Twitter account active without spending your entire day posting tweets?
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Have you started a video campaign yet? We'll admit it, creating video is probably the most intimidating form of inbound marketing for the un-initiated. With that said it's also one of the most rewarding! YouTube has long been the king when it comes to web video, but now with Facebook moving up the ranks you have even more incentive to get started with a video campaign for your small business and its service or product.
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With the launch of Google+ a couple of weeks ago, everyone has had fun learning the ins and outs of how they can best utilize it for not only themselves (circle me), but for their brands. Many brands even went ahead and created accounts as a brand despite being against Google's wishes. It did not take long for those accounts to be removed or converted to an actual name of a person, hence +Mashable converting to +Pete Cashmore. Google is currently testing accounts for brands (see Ford example below), but what is next for them? ...I have my opinions on what I'd like to see.
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Inbound marketing is still a new term, especially around Western NY and Northern PA. We have given inbound marketing seminars for many of the local businesses, most of which are aware of Twitter, try and use Facebook, talked about SEO...but beyond that their inbound marketing efforts are lackluster. The one area that is very hard for these businesses to grasp is knowledge sharing.
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Recently, Josh and I have had the opportunity to give our seminar on Inbound Marketing principles in various areas of Northwest Pennsylvania. As a web marketing firm, it is very motivating to see all of the small businesses in our area so interested in using the web and it's abundant marketing resources to grow their businesses. It is also very frustrating that the most common problem is that there is a clear lack of understanding on where to start.
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Video is probably the most under-utilized media when it comes to small businesses attempting to reach new customers online, however it might be the most compelling route to take from a consumer's standpoint. There's no better way to highlight a product or service than with video, and although there is a little more work involved than with writing a blog post or recording an audio podcast, ultimately your potential return is huge. Of course everyone knows about the power of websites like YouTube, but there are some other great free video sharing services that add even more functionality that you might not have considered! In this blog post I'm going to run down a few of my favorites, including what makes each of them attractive from a small business standpoint.
Read moreThis probably comes as no surprise, but as the title indicates, most marketers are increasing the social media spending this year according to Effie Worldwide and Mashable. More specifically, 70% of the marketers surveyed intend to increase their social media investment by 10% or more.
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Today Facebook added a new sharing feature in the form of a send button which will replace the previous "Email to a Friend" functionality. The new Send button works similarly to the Like button - whenever a user clicks one a small Facebook popup window will appear allowing the user to share a page to their Facebook friends, Groups or by email.
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We work with quite a variety of businesses in terms size and sophistication. Some have invested appropriately in their web marketing and continue to hone the marketing channel, while others are playing catchup and trying to stretch their budget as far as possible. In both cases, we continue to encourage our clients and prospects to think big, even if they don't have the budget for it yet.
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If you are executing digital marketing, congratulations! You are most likely already one step ahead of your competition, and making strides to meaningfully connect with prospects online. But, how do you know if you’re seeing continual success year over year, and improving your metrics?
Without the tools in place to analyze and benchmark your efforts, it is impossible to scale your online marketing and ensure continuous success.
