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PR is a cost effect, credible way to promoting a company. It adds credibility because stories are perceived to have been created by journalists or editors.
2Market assists our clients by creating and implementing practical marketing plans. Outsource some or all of your marketing activites; save yourself time & money while achieving better results.
04 February 2011
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Blog
So you want your website to be found by potential customers? Well, the first thing I recommend for my clients, is to research what words and phases people are using for searches relating to what they are selling.
Don’t use guesswork!
I come across companies all the time that use words throughout their websites, that they think people are using to search for their products. Not only that, they also monitor their websites’ performance in Google vis-a-vis these words and phrases.
But what if you’re optimising your website for the wrong words and phrases?
Google takes the guesswork out of this important task by providing a tool which clearly reports how many searches that actually took place for whatever word or phrase you select. Not only that, you can monitor monthly searches for any country in the world.
So whereas “Irish Gift Store” had 1600 searches in Google in the USA in December, the term “Irish Gifts” had 33,100.
Similarly “slimming tablets” had 8100 searches in Ireland in January 2011, whereas “diet pills” had 5400 and “slimming pills” had 1300.
This tool will identify the best selection of words and phrases to use. It eliminates guesswork!
So before you write the content of your website, choose your meta titles, description or analyse your performance in Google – make sure you research what you want to be found for!
The Google Keyword Tool will also show you monthly variations for your keyword searches – thus allowing you to plan your online advertising campaigns. So my client selling diet pills will run a campaign in January and May when searches for their products are at their peak.
So – what are you waiting for – check out Google’s Keyword External Tool at: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
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04 August 2010
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Blog
Most businesses don’t realise what a powerful marketing tool Facebook is.
There are over 1.6 million people in Ireland on Facebook, with 850,000 people logging on once a day and 83% logging on at least once per week.
According to an Irish survey carried out by Mulley Communications in April last, a significant proportion of advertising on Facebook is read. 71% of those surveyed indicated that they looked at ads on their profile pages. It also found that users paid even more attention to page updates in their newsfeed wall.
Convinced? Here is my practical guide to doing business on Facebook and integrating it into your online and offline marketing strategy!
- People set up “personal profiles” in Facebook and businesses set up “business pages”. This may sound like a basic recommendation, but I come across businesses all the time, that are using a “personal profile” which is a breach of Facebooks terms of use, and could result in an instant termination of the account. And if a business has built up a few hundred or even a few thousand (and yes I have come across this..) friends, losing all those valuable contacts would simply be a disaster.
- Personal profiles are limited to 5000 friends, so that’s another reason to use a business page.
- Personal Profiles have “Friends” and Business Pages have “Likes” (Previously known as “Fans”).
- “Friends” on facebook have access to each other’s personal information, photos and posts. So keep your friends as “friends” and your business associates as “fans” (of your business page.)
- Fans of your business page will receive updates from you, but have no access to your personal profile. This is an important point to make as most businesses I come across, have avoided Facebook or are using it incorrectly for this very reason.
- A business page may have more than one administrator, so the task of updating your business page can be shared between a number of people in your organisation.
- Invite all your “friends” to become “fans” of your business page. Remember, social networking is “word of mouth online”, so use your contacts’ to spread the word. Encourage all your employees/friends to repeat the exercise which will help to get the ball rolling!
- When you have 25 “fans” you can personalise your business page (eg. www.facebook.com/2market) by using the following link: http://www.facebook.com/username
- Post interesting regular (but not too regular) updates on your facebook page. Give your fans (and potential fans) a reason to keep coming back for more. Be inventive; run competitions, encourage discussion... think outside the box! The key is to differentiate yourself from your competition!
- Post updates on other relevant Facebook pages. For example; I’ve often posted updates on the Mayo Association Facebook page for events I think their fans may be interested in.
- Remember to encourage your “fans” to visit your website. So always include a link to the most relevant page on your website. Most businesses miss this point. Your Facebook page is a very powerful tool to drive traffic to your website. Use posts’ on your business page to stimulate interest and redirect traffic to your website.
- I continue to find PPC Advertising on Facebook an amazing tool as it enables advertisers to accurately target people based on their location, demographics, likes/interests, their education and work.
Want to find out more...? 2Market manages a number of Facebook Business Pages for clients across a range of sectors. Simply call us on 087 9291125 or fill on our online enquiry form.
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28 April 2010
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Blog
The Internet can be a great way of finding new customers and increasing sales.
But simply developing a website and launching it on the world wide web will not have an impact on your bottom line. In fact don’t be surprised if no-one is visiting your website at all. That’s why I’m always sceptical when I hear comments like, “I tried the Internet, but it just didn’t suit my business”. Nonsense.
I believe that Google is now being used in Irish homes in the same way the “Golden Pages Directory” would have been used in times gone by. The Internet or more specifically Google is used more and more by consumers whether they are searching for local cinema listings, a new car, to check their bank balance, a holiday, perfume ..... the list goes on..
So – how do you ensure your business gets some of the action! I believe businesses need to put a strategy in place which complements their marketing and sales activities in the real world. This online strategy will probably incorporate some or all of the following activities
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Internet or PPC Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Social Networking.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Getting found in Google. When someone does a search for a key word or phrase related to your business, you want to be on the first page of results. That’s what SEO is all about. It involves working on your:
- website content
- page titles and descriptions
- links to and from other relevant websites.
Internet or PPC Advertising
These are the sponsored links that are found above Google’s organic listings and also on the right hand side of the results page.
If you are not achieving good results in Google organic results then PPC Advertising, using Google’s Adwords, may be a good option for your business.
You set up a campaign which involves choosing keywords and phases, on which you place a bid. The cost of your bid depends on the popularity of your chosen keyword and phrases. If the quality of your ad is good enough and your bid is higher than the competition, then you will achieve the number one position in Google. You are only changed when someone clicks through to your website.
Email Marketing
This is a great way to drive your target audience to your website. You need to build up a database of email addresses of customers or potential customers. It is important that you use specialist email programmes, so that your email is not treated as spam by your recipients email servers’. Then if your content grabs your recipients’ attention and is persuasive enough you should achieve click throughs from your email to your website. A compelling “call to action”, will facilitate converting this traffic into sales!! Check out my last blog for more information on email marketing.
Social Networking
This involves using social networking sites to find new customers. The premise is that people like to do business with people they know. Whether its FaceBook, Twitter, Flicker or LinkedIn, your contacts will also have contacts with whom you may end up doing business. The only cost usually is your time. Does it work – it sure does. Think outside the box and you will achieve results and increased sales.
2Market Online Marketing
2Market has created and implemented successful online marketing strategies for businesses not only in Sligo and Mayo but all over Ireland. Our clients like our no nonsense approach and of course our success rates! See what our customers say about us on our testimonial page. And please feel free to contact us to see how we can help your business win more online sales. Call Louise McDonnell on 096 37777 or feel free to fill out an online enquiry form.
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23 March 2010
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Blog
Okay first things first, I’m not referring to sending hundreds of emails using Outlook or Outlook Express (or whatever mail server you’re using). Even if you are smart enough to be using the BCC option. No – in fact, Email Marketing is much more powerful than that. And the good news is it’s cheap as chips and very effective.
So what is it? Well – there are special applications you can use online which allow you to send emails to targeted lists. Emails will not be treated as spam by your recipients’ mail server – so already that’s an advantage. But the main benefit of using these packages is that the actions of the recipients can be tracked. So you’ll be able to see, who opened your email, how many times they opened it, if they clicked any of the links from your email to your website and what links they clicked.
Think about it – you send this email to a few hundred addresses, who are you going to follow up first? Pick out the recipients who opened your email the most. And if you’ve been pitching a few products – you’ll even be able to tell which product they were interested in by reviewing links they have clicked.
It’s no wonder that email remains the most popular online promotional format for Irish Marketers, according to the second Online Marketing Sentiment Survey conducted by AMAS among members of the Marketing Institute f Ireland (MII).
So where does 2Market come in... well, we can help with creating email content which will have maximum impact, setting up the campaign, seeing it through to delivery and monitoring the results. We can also update your website to ensure your email campaign has the greatest impact. Sound interesting – contact us now to find out more...
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