The Case for Using Social Media

Consultant Greg Verdino says businesses can use social media to shift from targeting everyone to cultivating only customers they want.


Entrepreneurs have been aiming for a select group of customers for years. What's new here?

The playing field has flip-flopped. Social media and the Web gave small business owners ways to compete more effectively against big businesses. But a lot of companies are struggling with the shift to a universe where everyone can be a mini media mogul.

Isn't it hard to tell if social media campaigns are working?

I don't believe it's more difficult to measure the impact. Think of any form of traditional advertising; there is no reliable way to say exactly what you got in many cases. Some of the social-media campaigns may be less predictable and harder to wrap your head around, because they involve more than just creating one ad and running it anyplace that will take your money. But social media is no less measurable. Ford, for example, knows the 10 million-plus impressions it got from its social-media campaign for the Ford Fiesta launch was far greater than it would have seen in a traditional campaign. The company got nearly 100,000 people to say they wanted to test-drive the car. And it had 60 percent brand awareness for a vehicle that wasn't even on the market—roughly equivalent to the awareness of a car that's been on the market for two to three years. That's a very tangible outcome for a far lower cost.

How do you persuade time-strapped managers to use social media?

I would challenge small business owners to identify one thing that's not working in their marketing. If they're investing time and energy in sales activities that aren't resulting in an acceptable close rate, they should reinvest that time in new approaches. A little less cold calling and a little more sharing thought leadership on a blog might have more people picking up the phone. The old ways of marketing aren't working as well as they once did. That doesn't mean I'm advocating a full 180. The two can work in tandem. Over time, many of these new approaches can come to overtake the old ways and be more effective for less money—even if in the interim it costs you a little bit of time.

Is this just for companies that sell to consumers?

Oftentimes, business-to-business gets short shrift when it comes to social media. But the very notion of "micromarketing"—using these tools and tactics to appeal directly and deeply to the few right people—is at least as well suited to business-to-business marketers. Most of these companies are, by definition, micromarketers. They appeal to a tightly focused, highly targeted community rather than the masses.

-Nick Leiber, BusinessWeek Sept 2010

DID YOU KNOW... We are now helping our maWebCenters business owners utilize the power of social media that is included in our online business solution. Our technical support team works with business owners individually to help them create a successful online presence. Try a no-cost, no-obligation test-drive today!

Features vs Benefits

A friend that works at a car dealership was recently discussing a sales technique with me. "We're not allowed to let customers leave...until they take a test drive," she said. "If they take a test drive, the chances that they'll buy really improve."

What does this have to do with today's topic? The car dealership's policy clearly illustrates the difference between selling features and selling benefits.

So what's the difference?

Feature: The structure, physical description, or attributes of your product or service.

Benefit: The emotional reasons or connections your prospect makes with your product or service.

At a car dealership, putting the consumer in the driver's seat changes the way they view the vehicle. No longer are they looking at the "features" of the car, they are experiencing the benefits. (Hence the increase in sales.)

So what can you do to make sure your message is speaking to your prospect's heart and not their head? Ask yourself a series of questions:

How will their life be better, easier, or more fun with my product or service?
Why will they want to tell their friends about my company?
Without my product or service, what will the prospect be missing?
How will the prospect justify this purchase to themselves or their spouse?

By answering these questions, you will discover the benefits that will attract your prospects. No matter how tempted you may be to point out the incredible "features" of your product, sell with the prospect in mind.

When you constantly put the prospects emotions first, you will create marketing messages that drive sales like you've never seen before.

- Clate Mask
CEO, Infusionsoft

DID YOU KNOW... We have been offering a "test-drive" of maWebCenters Complete Turnkey Business Solution for quite some time, so that business owners "experience" the benefits that place us above the rest. You will find that there is no other company as dedicated, qualified and experienced as maWebCenters.
Experience the benefits for yourself today!

Business Blogging got you Stumped?

One of the most common concerns expressed by small business owners who are new to digital marketing is that they don't know what to write about in their blog entries. That means they're neglecting a valuable opportunity to market their business and communicate with their customers!

Tell your story. This is a great way for you to get your blog started. Who are you? Who's on your team? Why did you choose the industry you're in? When did you decide to become an entrepreneur? This topic can be separated into a series of entries, too!

Put the audience in your shoes. Tell readers what a day or a week in your business is like. Take us on a tour of your world!

Get out into your community. Being active in various community events (like local fundraisers) creates a win/win scenario for everybody involved - it's a way for businesses to promote themselves while contributing to a worthwhile cause! Use your blog to share that experience with readers. Take pictures; describe the event and tell readers what compelled you to become involved with that particular cause.

Compare your business to the big fish. Small and medium-sized companies everywhere almost certainly face larger national competitors. If you operate one of these smaller businesses, what gives you a competitive advantage over the corporate giants? Maybe it's your understanding of the local culture. Perhaps you partner with other local companies. Regardless of your industry, you can always make a solid case for your business against the others with just a little brainstorming!

Use your resources! Consult your Facebook and Twitter pages to find inspiration from your online community!
Ask the readers! Send questions or requests for content ideas via e-newsletter, Twitter feed, Facebook or with a simple post on your home page! Customers will love feeling included and will appreciate knowing that their online voice is heard!

Did You Know? MA WebCenters Web solution comes complete with Blogger integration tools, it's easy for businesses to maintain a blog as part of their digital presence. MA WebCenters provides seamless multi-channel integration! Business owners can check their site statistics section to see what their most popular products or pages are, and create a blog post from that information. This is just one of the many advantages available to you under one simple, easy to maintain platform.

Find out more at Simply WebCenters today!

Importance of Personalization

Personalization is very important to the success of your online business.

Even though there is widespread recognition of the power of personalization for online shopping, few companies pursue to do it effectively. To be able to master personalization, you first need to master where your customers are going on your site. Where they are coming from. What they are buying, what they are most interested in.

Collecting this information is one of the biggest obstacles for businesses to successfully personalize the experience for their customers.The ways and means of providing personalization has come a long ways with the advances in technology.

Today, personalization means delivering product recommendations, offers, and content based on what you know about a given customer. Offering up-sells and cross-sells based on personalization can significantly improve your bottom line.

Would you like to be able to have all this information at your disposal in an easy to comprehend format? Gather information you can use to personalize your customer's online experience? Would you like to be able to accomplish these tasks in an easy, simple manner, so you can run your website at the speed of your business?

Simply WebCenters brings the power of personalization to small-to-medium size business owners via MA WebCenters' Complete Online Business Solution Package. All the necessary tools are integrated into our comprehensive e-commerce system. Take the time to test-drive a WebCenter designed specifically for your business today and experience the difference.

It's MORE than just a website.

Building Your Brand

"You've got to be bold, you've got to be provocative, and you've got to be daring" says Mary van de Weil, CEO of Zing Your Brand. According to her, your business has just moments to succinctly communicate your purpose and value to consumers before they click away from you.

"Branding is what sets you apart - it's a natural magnet. If people come to your site, they need to say, 'Yes, this is who can answer my problem.' If you make a bad impression in the first five seconds, you're toast."

The most essential component of successful online branding is the human element, she says. "People are craving a story. They want to know something about who they're buying from, and they feel like they need to like and trust you," she explains. You've got to shout what it is that makes you special and makes you different. Our personalities are what drive our brands. Look at Richard Branson - his personality is embedded in all the Virgin Brands. You need to put a face on your business."

"Not enough companies take advantage of the opportunity to tell a story that's bigger than the company itself. There's always a story you can tell. Maybe your merchandise is made from local products or from sustainable materials. You've got to find that unique angle."

- Entrepreneur Magazine, May 2010

Don't Be Hostage To Your WebMaster

"If you're thinking about outsourcing your website design or programming, then consider how much control you will ultimately have over it. Today's friendly web designer or programmer can become tomorrow's hostage taker, holding your website, shopping cart, or other web-based technology for ransom over even the slightes...t disagreement. Protect yourself."
-Mikal Belicove, Entreprenuer Magazine March 2010

The best way to protect yourself, is to have a website that you can control and manage yourself, at the speed of your business. Seeing is believing. Check out the MA WebCenter Demo now! It's more than just a website...

www.SimplyWebCenters.com

Customer Communication Is Key

One of the most valuable aspects of your Web site is to have a comprehensive e-mail feature. Regardless of your industry.

"...It's your hub for customer communication."

Studies show that consumers are increasingly checking their inbox for e-mails from their favorite businesses, and companies are taking notice! According to a Lyris Webinar entitled 10 Trends that Will Make or Break your Email ROI in 2010, e-mail is the "highest-performing online marketing tool" available today!

Lyris' J.D. Peterson told the audience that e-mail is a low cost way to promote a business and it can easily be integrated with other Web marketing strategies like search engine optimization,e-commerce and social networking!

Since our Web solution is all-inclusive, everything your business needs to create a cohesive, integrated Web presence is available in one system. Why should you rely on several costly firms when you can effortlessly control your own online presence using a solution that's easy on your budget? It's a no-brainer!

"...There's no better way to build customer loyalty!"

Sending regular e-newsletters will ensure that you stay at the forefront of your customers' minds. With the convenient e-mail campaign tools in our Web solution, businesses can distribute messages packed with information about upcoming store events,industry news, e-coupons and more! It's the most cost effective way to keep customers coming back again and again!

"...It's easy to measure success."

One of Peterson's suggestions for maximizing e-mail ROI is to "use Web site visitor behavior to better target e-mail." This may sound like an overwhelming process for smaller businesses,but with our solution, it's incredibly easy! You can simply consult the site statistics section to gauge site visitor behavior and base your messages around these results! You'll find out which pages on your site are the most popular, which search engines visitors use to find your site, which products or services are a big hit, and much, much more! With this information, you can create targeted e-mail campaigns and send those messages to a specific group within your contact list!

Keep e-mail marketing in mind. Whether you hope to increase profits, reduce spending on advertising or enhance customer service, our Web solution's e-mail tools are a springboard to accomplishing these goals!

Find out more at www.SimplyWebCenters.com today!

Don't Be Just Another Web Brochure

Some of you business owners may already have a Web site for your business, but often these sites are outdated, unfinished or inactive "online brochures" that offer no opportunities for consumer interaction. So , we're featuring several of Peter Moore's "essentials for your business Web site."

Contact Details and Map - If you run a brick-and-mortar location for your business, you'll draw more customers just by using our Web solution's tools to add your e-mail address, street address and phone number to each page of your site! Our solution also allows site owners to add a map and driving directions, so online visitors won't have to leave your site to find out how to reach your business! Moore points out that Web users "won't spend hours looking for you and trying to trace you - they'll just go elsewhere and find another site." This is definitely true these days, as people now expect quick and easy access to information!

Photos and Videos - Adding these features will lend to the credibility of your business, as Moore explains. "It means that people can see who you are and it assures them that you are real!" Moore writes that featuring videos on the site (such as a tutorial or tour) "can add a three-dimensional look to your site and is just another way to show people that you are real and that you understand their needs." Our Web solution is designed to allow the easy addition of images and videos, and these tools are beneficial for any business in any industry!

Newsletters - Sending e-newsletters to opt-in contacts serves a number of functions. Above all, they facilitate ongoing communication between your business and your customers. By using the e-mail campaign tools in our Web solution, you can send targeted newsletters on a regular basis to everyone on your contact list. You can do it in minutes...on your own time!

Feedback & Testimonials - Web users place profound importance on the opinions of fellow shoppers. Our Web solution allows site owners to add pages for receiving feedback and displaying customer testimonials. What's more, business owners can also take advantage of our solution's customer review capabilities! It's all available through one convenient, comprehensive system!

Make sure it's complete! - According to Moore, businesses with incomplete sites stand to lose credibility. With our Web solution, that's never an issue! It's easy for any small- or medium-sized business to update and edit their site content, and those changes happen in real time! The site will never show up as "under construction," and Web visitors will always be able to access a professional online storefront that enhances your reliability.

These are all important features and are included among many more great features in our complete Web Solutions package. Find out more at www.SimplyWebCenters.com now!

Social Marketinig - Avoid Doing This...

Taigh Smyth, Internet Marketing Expert, provided this insight when marketing using social networking sites.

If you are thinking of using Social Marketing sites to build your business this is an important article for you to read to avoid making the fatal mistakes that most online marketers are committing right now, and wondering why their business is not growing.

Social marketing sites have changed the internet and the way we communicate with others. A couple examples of social marketing sites are Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. This is usually a place where friends connect and people meet one another. This is very important to understand for when people don't play by the rules, they will be rejected by others in the group.

So how are marketers abusing these social marketing sites? Many marketers who see the mass number of people on these sites feel that it's a good idea to get their noise in and advertise to these people. This is probably the worst thing you can do. Here is why.

Let's take the example of going to a party, that's basically what social marketing sites are like, a place where people are meeting other people. Now would you walk into a party and introduce yourself as the "God of Online Marketing" and can help them with all of their problems? Of course not - I hope. But people are doing it every day online. They have corny profiles such as, "MakeMillions" and go around asking if they can help you.

There are a few things wrong with this strategy. First I immediately question to myself, "If this person is so successful then why is he going around begging others to be friends and wanting to help me?” Second and this is even more important, is that they are just annoying everybody at the party (the social marketing site). Immediately you remind them of an annoying network marketer who just will not stop calling them to 'join their business'. So instead of building the business and annoying people face-to-face, people are now going on to social marketing sites to market with the same 'failure proven' techniques.

Social marketing sites are a place where people can meet one another and build new relationships. It is not a new medium for advertising and recruiting. Be respectful of the people you meet and get to know one another. At some point they may ask you what you do and if it seems like a good fit, you can put on your marketing hat and take the next step.

Social marketing sites have made it easier than ever to connect with people all over the world, so learn the unspoken rules, build relationships, and prosper with one another.

What's the Most Effective Marketing Technique?

Marketing experts are constantly weighing in on the best way to promote a business online, and e-mail comes out on top time and time again! Take Michele Fontanelli from Meta Media, for instance. She writes on DMNews.com that “e-mail marketing is one of the most effective retention marketing techniques available,” and reminds readers that any business can – and should - make the most of this avenue.

“Whatever business you’re in – whether you’re a local hairdresser trying to increase return traffic to your salon or a multi-million dollar e-commerce site with more than 1,000 products to sell – e-mail marketing should be one of the highest priorities within your online marketing strategy.”

Fontanelli offers some valuable tips for e-mail marketing. Take advantage of these ideas with your current clients or use them to build value in your business while talking to prospects!

Bring customers back.

Fontanelli suggests that businesses use e-mail to offer incentives for customers to visit your site or business after long periods of inactivity. With MA WebCenter's all-inclusive Web solution, any small- or mid-sized business can easily identify which of their contacts hasn’t shopped with them in a while and send an e-mail directly targeted to that group!

Provide Recommendations.

You can also use the e-mail campaign tools in our Web solution to send product or service recommendations. If you’ve got customers who prefer a particular product, they can launch a personalized e-mail campaign with recommendations for similar products that those customers might also enjoy! Site visitors will appreciate the recommendations, and you can boost your profitability when customers purchase the suggested products!

Keep customers updated.

Fontanelli writes that “new product or service e-mails are the perfect excuse to e-mail your customer base. You are not only getting your name in front of your customers once again, but you are giving them a whole new reason to be interested in what you have to offer.”

But you don’t have to wait until you introduce a new product or service to send an e-mail like the one Fontanelli’s talking about. When you send regular e-newsletters to your opt-in site visitors, you can include news about in-store events or a link to a recent write-up in the local newspaper. These techniques will also keep your business fresh in the customer’s mind!

No matter how you use our Web solution’s e-mail campaign features, the key is to urge customers to purchase a product on your site or take advantage of a service at your brick-and-mortar location. As Fontanelli writes, a call to action should “always be your number one consideration.”

To find out more on how our Web solution can benefit your business, contact us today!