Free Webinar Session With 6 Landing Page Designs Steps and 8 Campaign Killers to Avoid

 If your landing pages aren't converting visitors to customers, they could be suffering from one of the “8 Campaign Killers You Can Easily Avoid.” The Internet in 2013 is a very unforgiving environment; once you lose a potential customer’s attention, they are likely gone forever.

 So don’t forget to join us this Thursday, April 25th for our free webinar “Landing Page Love…6 Essential Steps You Need to Know.” We’ll discuss proven strategies that will improve your landing pages and convert more visitors to paying customers (which means more money!).

 After the webinar, all attendees will receive a complimentary Executive Summary highlighting key takeaways as well as our exclusive “26-Point Landing Page Checklist.”

 

Topic: “Landing Page Love…6 Essential Steps You Need to Know”

Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013

Time: 11:00AM - 12:00PM (EDT)

Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/824345448

 

Note: Be sure to put Robert Saunders or Tracey Saunders when prompted to specify who referred you to this webinar.

 If you have any questions, give me a call. I look forward to seeing you at the webinar.

 Regards,

Tracey and Robert

WSI Analytical Internet Marketing

  Year 2012 saw an increased focus on content marketing. There was a marked rise in the number of small and medium businesses adopting integrated content marketing strategies to engage with customers and prospects. We also saw increased adoption of trends such as responsive Web design, geo-tagging, targeted content distribution, propensity for visual content, and emergence of integrated content marketing tools and techniques. 

  In 2013, we are likely to see these trends gain traction. The increase in the number of customer touch-points has introduced several new complexities for marketers. Content strategies will need to accommodate the multi-device ecosystem that consumers are using to access content. Irrespective of the device used, marketers need to develop content structures that enable optimal viewing experience to content consumers. HTML5 is still a year away from its official launch. In the meanwhile, website design needs to be more responsive to the viewer’s screen size. 

Stay Updated on Content Marketing

As Customer Lobby blogger, Ted Paff describes in his post, consumers do research and take multiple paths to get to your door. He goes on to say that  some ask their friends for a suggestion; some ask a professional in a related field; some search online.  Asking for referrals/suggestions is as old as recorded history.  In a recent survey, Customer Lobby members estimated that 40-50% of new customers came from referrals.

But what about the other half?  What do they do first when they need a [insert your industry here]?  Not surprisingly, they search online.  But what do they look for?
#1 – They read your reviews

46% look for and read reviews about your business as a first step.  Even if they started with a Google search, 40% of them will first seek reviews from around the web and 60% will seek Google reviews first.  Reviews are now “table stakes” for a local business.

Your prospects are often finding your reviews through a branded search (i.e. typing you your company name and “reviews” into a search bar).  We track the keywords that searchers use to find Customer Lobby reviews pages and, by far, the most common search terms are “[insert company name] reviews” and “[insert industry name] reviews”.

#2 – They go to your website

30% of prospects first go to your website.  If your website is their first stop, its a good bet that your reviews will be their second stop.  This is a great opportunity to provide them a link to your best review content.  Check out our reviews as an example.

Regardless of how they get there, building your review asset is now as important (or more) than any other digital asset you have.

Need help?  WSI is an authorized partner of Customer Lobby and can get you started with a free reviews account!  We can also show you a demo and success stories!

 

Read the article here.

 

If you’re not engaged in Social Media, you’re business won’t be around in 5 years!

 

That’s a pretty audacious statement.  So if I’m going to be so bold, I better be able to back it up, right?  So here goes.  

 

We’re social animals.  We like to know about the people we engage with, whether it’s on a casual level or if for business.   We want to establish a level of trust for people and businesses before we invite them into our lives, or perhaps even our homes.   Before the evolution (or revolution) of online social tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest,  our social engagement was defined by our neighbors and circle of friends.   If we needed a doctor or dentist, we would ask around and listen to what a few people had to say.   If we needed a plumber, painter, or other service provider that we might allow into our homes, perhaps even while we we’re away, we would ask our social circle for their valued opinions and reviews.

Before social media, our “social realm” was pretty small.   It consisted of those family and friends that were immediately around us.  And our word-of-mouth requests were usually limited to just a few people.   Consequently, the weight that we gave to the recommendations from friends and neighbors was considerable.   So what has changed with the advent of social media?   In a simplified view, social media has dramatically expanded our reach beyond just a few people in our immediate circle.    Before social media, our word-of-mouth reach consisted of our friends and neighbors.   Today, word-of-mouth reviews and comments about your business can literally reach millions.  People are listening to what others say, and providing their opinions and experiences more than ever.   Whether you are engaged in social media or not, your potential customers are.  And most likely they are talking about your business.

So imagine this scenario.   You are a homeowner looking for a reliable painting company.    You do a Google search for painting contractors in your area.    From the first page search result, you get a list of local companies to choose from.   From that list you might narrow the choices to a few; let's say three.  

• Of the three companies, one is not engaged in social media.   There are no comments or reviews; they are practically invisible.    
• The second company has many reviews published across the web, and comments posted on the social sites.  Unfortunately, they are mostly negative and the companies owners choose to ignore what is being said.   They are in a state of denial.   
• The third company is engaged.   They routinely publish information about their services, including how-to tips and guides for DIY'ers.   Many people comment on the company, almost all of which are positive and appreciative of the value they receive.   And the company routinely joins in the conversation.  

So the question is this.   Which one of these companies are you going to hire, and which will be out of business in 5 years?  You decide.

 To learn more about the impact of social media, we recommend reading Socialnomics by Eric Qualman.

 Robert Saunders is a Digital Marketing consultant serving Oklahoma City and beyond.

LinkedIn and Your Reputation… 1 Free Tip

As a digital marketing firm here in Orange County, we often work with individuals whose names are heavily associated with their brand, such as an attorney, or a consultant or a doctor (or a digital marketer). One thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is in these cases those individuals names are searched on as much as the industry keywords associated with their brand.

When it comes to your online reputation, control whatever you can.

Here’s the Tip:

Your LinkedIn profile is exclusively yours… you control what’s on it. If you can get it to show up in the search results for your name, you just took control of one more piece of your online reputation.

Here’s How:

• Make sure that your profile is at 100% completion. There is a bar in the upper right hand side that tells you how far you have to go.

• Ask your network for Recommendations (you need at least 3 just to get to 100%). Get as many as you can.

• If your name is popular (like John Smith) try using your middle name or initial in your profile, or even associate it with your geographic location

• Whenever possible, link to your LinkedIn profile from blog postings, your company website…wherever you can. It’s those incoming links that indicate popularity to the search engines and bolster your search results.

• Link to it from other social media like Google Plus and Facebook and Twitter.

Chuck Bankoff Director of Web Services for Kreative Webworks, Inc. and is a Digital Marketing Consultant, Speaker, Author and Trainer in Orange County California.

In the never ending battle of keeping your business top of mind to clients and prospects when they are ready for their next purchase, we have a new product to tell you about.   It is called Retargeting.  I was visiting with a fellow WSI Internet Consultant and this is what he told me about his clients that are currently running Pay Per Click campaigns: 

“I think it make sense for all search campaigns to have Retargeting.  You spent $3-$25 per click to get someone to your site.  Why not spend another $6-$8 per thousand impressions to remarket to those exact same people over the next 30 days following their visit.  Using our Total Banner Now, you get 3 great flash banner ads for only $950.  They are great!”

By running a Retargeting campaign, whenever someone visits your site, either directly or thru the PPC campaign, they will be “retargeted” for 30 days anywhere in the world.  That’s how Retargeting works.  It gives the impression that you are a huge marketer.   Anyone doing PPC should also be doing Retargeting with it. A $250 campaign has lasted over 100 days for a WSI client. 

 

We can get your business started today and you can start seeing results sooner than you think!

Contact Tracey or Robert for more info.

Local Search - Local Customers for Local Businesses

For most of us, our business is local, and we look locally for new customers. More importantly, our customers are local, looking for the local services or products we provide. So how do customers find our businesses? Let's face it; it's not the phone book any more. Most of us will search the internet before we crack open the book. Besides, many of us (me included) don't even take the plastic wrap off the book when we find it on the front porch. And fewer business are spending their marketing dollars on the many phone books that people don't even open anymore. So if the Internet is now the place where people find the things they need or want, how do we make sure that our business is the one people find first?

"If you're not found online, it's like having a store front without a sign. People will walk right past your front door and not even know you're there. And they'll keep walking straight to your competition."

So back to the question at hand; how do customers find us? The answer is that we are not so much found as we are delivered. Search engines and directories provide an answer to a question asked by people looking for something. The most successful search engines, like Google, pride themselves in delivering the most relevant result to a search. In fact they're fanatical about it. They know that their livelihood rests on providing the most relevant result. So if we want to be found, we have to convince the search engines and online local directories that we deserve to be delivered to people looking for us.

Enter the Local Search Specialist. Trying to convince the search engines and directories can be a daunting task that requires many hours and an understanding of how these providers work. And let's face it; we're in the business of operating our business. Everything else can be a costly distraction. So engaging a Specialist can be well worth the investment. It's a fact that the cost of acquiring a new customer by utilizing the internet can be a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods, such as the phone book. Talk to your Local Search Specialist to find out how.

 

By  Robert Saunders, WSI Analytical Internet Marketing

How our habits have changed. Google vs. the Phone Book.

You may have heard statistics about how many people don’t even pick up the phone book anymore (fifty percent), or how the phone book may soon be phased out entirely.   But what is really behind this shift in the way we find goods and services in our local markets?

Let’s start with a short walk down memory lane.  Prior to the “World Wide Web”, we let our “Fingers do the Walking”.    The first step was to open “the book” and find the category that best fit what we were looking for.   This, however, could sometimes be a frustrating exercise.   For example, if you needed to rent a tuxedo for the high school prom, you might open the book to the section beginning with T’s, yet not find a category for Tuxedos.   So you had to change your search and maybe look under Apparel.   You may have found that category but then you had to sort through countless irrelevant ads and listings, and still not find what you were looking for.   You could try Clothing and find everything from winter ski clothes and second hand shops to lingerie and swimwear.   Add to that the confusion of all those listings which gave a store name and number only with no description of what they provide.   You could easily waist hours calling stores that seemed promising but not find what you really need.    Then somebody got smart and decided that one phone book was not enough.   Now you had to thumb through several books to find what you were looking for.  Oh Gads!

Ok, let’s return to today; a much simpler and convenient time to be alive.   You need a Tuxedo for the prom?  No problem.  Just Google it and then shabam, you’ve got a ton of choices in an instant; all relevant to what you started looking for.   You might even find a map to get there, or perhaps you could go ahead and order it from your kitchen table and have it sized right and delivered to your front door.  Oh how times have changed.

But to end here is to tell only half the story.    You see, not only has searching for goods, services, and information gotten much easier, the way we think about searching has changed.   Our minds are adapting to new and ever changing methods for gaining knowledge.    And our expectations for gaining that knowledge whenever and wherever we want are becoming more difficult to fulfill.   In other words, the more we know, the more we want to know.   The addition of newer technologies, like mobile search for example, is a result of our insatiable desire to know more.   We can only imagine what the future holds but we should be confidant that it will serve our need to be engaged and to add to our wealth of knowledge.   Our task at WSI Analytical Internet Marketing (AimHigh) is to help you deliver your knowledge………

Going back to the Phone Book is not an option!

 

Robert Saunders
WSI Analytical Internet Marketing, LLC

Managing Social Media.  Times are changing, are you?

You might recall that way back in the 90’s, one of the buzz words in business was “Change Management”.    Executives and managers were realizing that change was inevitable.  Business could either let change happen on its own course, or they could engage in the changing environment and strategically adapt their business to meet new challenges.   If you think about it, the one constant in business is change, and nothing has changed so dramatically as how we interact socially.

We hear constantly from business owners that they refuse to engage in social media because (1) they perceive that it will consume their time, and (2) that it is mindless and irrelevant.    This approach to social media ignores some very dramatic changes in how consumers chose to engage with your business.  

First, as social animals, we like to talk to others about our positive and negative encounters.   Before the internet, one individuals reach was limited to just a few friends and neighbors.   But oh how that has changed!   The reality today is that one individual has the power to reach millions.   Just ask United Airlines what happened when they broke one man’s guitar.   As of the date of this post, this one man’s message on Youtube has reached over 11,000,000 people.  Astounding!   Whether you are engaged or not, people are likely talking about you and your business online and people are listening.

Second, social media has changed the way we shop for the goods and services we want or need.   Before social media, we had to rely on how businesses advertised their products.   Through slick marketing and promotion, we were sold on products and services by the image the advertiser wanted us to perceive.      Truth in advertising was something we had to take on faith. Word of mouth was limited to our closest friends and neighbors.  But again, oh how things have changed!     Today, people like to engage in the conversation that is going on about us.   One individual now has the ability to express his or her (re)views to potentially thousands or millions of people.   Shoppers are being conditioned to seek the words of others regarding our goods and services.   They naturally gravitate away from those that have overly negative conversations about them and towards those that are favorable.  

Another interesting change in this mix happens when we chose not to engage in social media, or to otherwise remain invisible.    Take as an example an automotive repair shop.   We’ll certainly avoid a shop that has a bad reputation for poor service or questionable tactics.   A shop with this kind of reputation likely has plenty of online conversations that will warn us away.   On the other hand, if other consumers give a particular shop a good vote of confidence, we’ll likely give them a try.   But as consumers, if we have a choice between the shop that is engaged and has a good online reputation, and one that can’t be found at all, where are we likely to go?   Having no visible presence online is almost as bad as having a bad reputation.

So as consumers change in the way they engage businesses, businesses have an opportunity to either manage that change and position themselves as the consumers choice, to not engage and allow negative conversation to drive consumers away, or to remain invisible.   It’s your choice to change.