Posts Tagged ‘marketing tool’

What’s the Buzz about Google Buzz?

Monday, February 15th, 2010

What’s the Buzz?

What has the small business marketing world Buzzing? “Google Buzz” !  This is the latest addition to social media marketing that the internet and marketers are all fired up about. Google Buzz  is a  new feature that shows up in Gmail that is a friend feed type social newsfeed like Facebook which behaves differently in google never ending style – a scroll platform. Most of the “buzz” about Google buzz has marketers asking is it a marketing utility? Is it something we need? It is brilliant because what it does is forces social stream into our inbox and allows us to see that we are inundating ourselves with stuff we don’t need!

Google Buzz will allow us to see more real time content such as tweets and comments in google buzz that will get ranked as critical words.  Eventually Google Buzz will eliminate the race for followers and fans and will allow google environment fans to be able to use Google Buzz effectively to parse down the number of people they want to connect with to a reasonable level.

I am all for anything that will make our lives easier but if Google Buzz does what is promised, it will negate the need for companies to be concerned about how many friends and fans they are collecting and concentrate on building long term relationships with their true customers.

As the world of social media marketing changes, we are studying all the ways in which we can help our small business customers to make educated decisions on which social media platforms they will incorporate into their 2010 marketing programs.  Stay tuned!

Using e-newsletters in a low cost effective marketing campaign

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

e-newsletters are one of the most economic marketing tools today. Anyone can benefit, whether you own a service business or are a manufacturer, e-newsletters are inexpensive to deliver to your database and a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. A short, succinct newsletter can be used to touch your customers once a month but bear in mind the content has to be more than an ad for your company. Give your customers or potential customers information that they can use in their business. One good tip will get your targeted customers to open your e-newsletters on a regular basis, just to see what you have to say in each issue.

How do you decide what topics to include in your e-newsletters? Listen to your customers. Look at your daily e-mails to see what questions are top of mind for which you have provided an answer. If some of your customers or potential customers are asking the same question about your industry, chances are it’s a question that is probably on most of your customers’ minds. Keep your information short and sweet (KISS principal), give your e-newsletter a catchy heading and you will have great success with opening rates and response from your targeted database.

Once you have designed the template for your newsletter, prepare a few ahead of time so that you can push them out on a regular basis. Repetition is the key to a successful e-newsletter campaign. It is one of the marketing tools in your marketing campaign toolkit that is low cost and effective.

Does Marketing with Direct Mail work anymore?

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

We have built our business over fifteen years by using direct mail as our primary marketing tool. Today, with the onslaught of social networking (many of our customers are still skeptical on the results) direct mail has somewhat taken a back seat. However, judging by the direct mail that we receive in our mailbox, direct mail is still alive and kicking and one of the cheapest methods of gaining new business. For the cost of one .44 cent stamp, you could attract one new customer. Highly targeted direct mail is still one of the best bargains around and one of the tried and true marketing tools companies are still using to attract new busines, even in the age of social networking!