Just because Google+ has not gained the popularity that Facebook or Pinterest have does not mean you should ignore it. Listing a business page on Google+ will actually give you more opportunity to show up in search engine results once you verify your local business. This process allows your Google+ page (after you have created it) to show up in Google's search engine results, along with your Google Maps listing and your actual website, and takes up the precious right-hand space where ads might otherwise appear (see photo below). Although some businesses and organizations find that LinkedIn or Facebook provide more opportunities to get in front of their target audiences, you may still stand to gain search engine traction by listing your business with Google+ simply for the search engine results and backlinks. Listing a business with Google+ is helpful for backlinks bec...
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As one of the most popular Pay-Per-Click (PPC) online advertising venues, Google Adwords can seem daunting and complicated at first (or second, or third) glance. It's part of the larger discipline of optimizating your website for search engines (SEO or more specifically in this case, search engine marketing - SEM). Here's a layman's guide to getting started with PCC through Google Adwords. What is Google Adwords? You pay Google to display a customized, keyword-driven text-based ad when it serves up a person's search results. You can also elect to have your ad show up on Google's affiliate sites (sites who get commission for displaying Google's ads). How do they work? As a business, you pay a predetermined price for every click that your ad gets. The price per click is determined by the competition for that particular keyword or keyword phrase that's found in your text...
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BuddyMedia has done some investigative work concerning Facebook and the rest of us stand to benefit from it! This analysis of social media interaction between brands and their audiences will inform you of the best times of day and week to post to Facebook. Here are a few highlights from the report: 1. Post on weekends Posting an update on a weekend (particularly a Sunday) will get you 69% higher interaction than posting on a weekday. 2. Post at night Posting after 8pm results in a 14% higher interaction rate than busier times of the day. 3. Post interesting content Posting pictures, videos, interactive comments or questions is a good strategry to get a higher rate of interaction. Also, try not to be too wordy! Trim your status updates down to the most concise communication possible. 4. Post sparingly Yes, it's true. Just because you've posted an enormously successful ...
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Brand fragmentation will torpedo even your best marketing efforts. On the flip side, brand integration works to create informed and trusting customers. Which would you prefer? When put like that, the answer appears quite obvious. Many companies, however, default to brand fragmentation because the careful integration of each part of your brand takes both a laser focus and the investment of hard work, creative thinking, and a little thing called money. We are bombarded with marketing messages, most of them fragmented. On the way to work today, I passed at least 4 billboards, received 2-3 marketing e-mails (which I did not read while driving), and noticed at least 5 vehicles advertising their companies. When I arrived and opened my computer to begin my morning ritual of browsing several business websites, each site pushed flashy advertisements to try and attract my atten...
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