Studio B/Visual Communication
Intelligent Graphic Design - for print & web - on budget, on time — every time.
Articles, writings and other activities
Working the Web - Monthly columns for the WestFair publications: Fairfield County Business Journal and Westchester County Business Journal
In collaboration with Ellie Becker
The best way to miss online marketing opportunities is to send traffic from email, social media and advertising campaigns to your home page. The best way to boost online marketing ROI is to send that traffic to unique landing pages, instead.
What are Landing Pages and Why Do You Need Them? A landing page is a website page with a form to capture contact information. A good landing page is created as a destination for a targeted stream of web traffic.
If you're concerned that your company is falling too far behind in the new world of social media marketing, take heart. Even the communications pros are working hard to keep up. Case in point: The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Westchester-Fairfield Chapter recently called in some expert colleagues to keep them abreast of emerging best practices for using social media in PR and marketing campaigns. The message: There are no experts. The social media landscape is changing so quickly that no one has figured it all out.
The early years of Inbound Marketing have focused on 'getting found' online to build website traffic for lead generation. In effect, inbound marketing tactics and automation tools have been about stretching the top of the sales funnel.
The rapidly evolving industry is now shifting emphasis to the middle of the sales funnel (known as MOFU). New and existing players are developing improved strategies and technologies for nurturing leads through the buying cycle – with the ultimate goal of converting them to sales.
By now you've likely heard about Google Plus – or G+ as it's known. In fact, Ryan Doran wrote an excellent introduction to G+ for the Business Journal last month. (Note to Caryn – for the online version of the column, please ask Caitlin to create an anchor text link from Ryan Doran to his G+ article on the site.) In case you missed it, G+ is Google's new social network, which is still in test mode, or beta.
To take advantage of today's inbound/online marketing opportunities, it's important to be able to manage your website day-to-day. If you're updating your site, one option to explore is WordPress. WordPress started as a blogging platform, but nowadays many companies are building entire, complex websites in WordPress.
About a year-and-a-half ago we introduced you to the inbound marketing concept – and have been deconstructing it into its elements for you ever since. Some elements of this rational approach to online marketing – like SEO and social media – have gotten a lot of buzz, which has caused some confusion. There are a number of other pieces to the inbound marketing puzzle that are critical for success. When you learn how they fit together and the roles they play, the process makes great sense. Let's take a look.
Guess what everybody? Twitter is rolling out New Twitter! Yes, we hear you. You haven't figured out Old Twitter yet. Well, you're not alone.
According to Network Solutions' Fifth Wave of the Small Business Success Index and a recent study from American Express OPEN, small businesses are jumping into Facebook with both feet -- 60 to 70% of those doing social media marketing. However blogs and Twitter are down in single digits.
Have you started your company's blog yet? If yes, congratulations and read on for updates on the value of your efforts. If no, let us try to convince you further why blogging is one of the best marketing investments you can make. We'll even help you decide whether to go with a templated blogging platform or a custom blog.
It's amazing how many websites we see where no attention has been paid to Search Engine Optimization – SEO. Yet it's one of the most important aspects of attracting business through your website.
We've written about various aspects of SEO in the past, including keyword research, but it's a constantly evolving practice. Let's take a fresh look at where on a web page you have the opportunity to provide words that tell search engines what that page is about.
Google is almost always in the news. Just a few days ago, it announced changes to its search engine algorithm that reinforce its commitment to favoring useful, original content. This is good news for inbound marketers and bad news for content farms – sites that recycle content from around the web in an effort to game the system and come up high in Google rankings for search terms not necessarily related to their actual content and motives.
The fastest retail sales growth is not happening on Main Street or at the mall. According to ecommerce tracker comScore, Inc., non-travel online spending reached a record $32.6 billion during November-December 2010, up 12% from 2009. Yet, overall U.S. retail sales, excluding automobiles, rose only 5.5% in a similar comparison, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse. If your retail business has weathered the recession, perhaps the best way to make up for the tough years is to consider expanding your business to the Web. Ecommerce offers a growth opportunity that might not otherwise be realistic here in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.
More and more, businesses want to take control of their own websites. For inbound marketing, this is a good thing. We want our websites to be dynamic hubs – constantly evolving with great content to attract search engines and, ultimately, to engage customers.
It makes sense to be able to add or change content independent of web professionals – from a practical and cost perspective. There are a number of tools to you do it yourself. Each has benefits, drawbacks and limitations.
If you – like many others – are intrigued by the Inbound Marketing concept but not sure exactly how to implement a program, this and next month's columns will detail some services that can help. We've sought and demo'ed tools that have the time and budget constraints of small-to-mid-sized companies in mind.
Did you know that, recently, the U.S. Air Force ensured that everyone from Airman to General has access to social media – even on government computers?! Yes. According to Captain Nathan Broshear, Chief of Public Affairs, 12th Air Force, his team is enabling members to directly communicate their experiences on the front lines to the public.
This was one of many surprising takeaways about the state of online marketing from the Inbound Marketing Summit 2010 (IMS10), held last month in Boston.
Last week a friend spent 40 minutes on the phone with a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) salesman who promised his company's special formula would get our friend's business on page one of Google search results. The cost? A minimum of $800 over six months. "What do you think?" she asked.
Inbound marketing is about attracting business through your website and web presence. So it's important to be attractive. Technology, online marketing trends and best practices change quickly. Businesses should, therefore, take a fresh look at their websites and consider revamping them every three to five years. This is a perfect opportunity to update your site's look and feel, too.
When potential customers hit your website, you have just a few seconds to capture their interest. Once they know they're in the right place they'll stay longer, giving you more opportunity to engage them and help them do business with you. Here are seven tips for turning "traffic" into customers.
Invariably when we're speaking with companies about expanding their online presence, we get push-back about regularly creating the content necessary to get found and to attract and engage important audiences. "I don't have the time." "I'm not a good writer." "What do I write about?" These are the most common concerns. Following are six tips for overcoming them.
Although this column focuses on web presence and online marketing, we are still great fans of traditional media. It further extends your reach, especially since most print and broadcast media now also offer online opportunities. Obviously, we find it very worthwhile sharing our knowledge and experience with you, the readers of the Business Journals. Most of all, we are huge fans of integration and leverage – connecting the dots among various communications platforms to get more bang for the buck out of each individual marketing effort.
Have you ever searched online for a particular product or service and not been able to tell what makes one offering different or better than another?
As we research online for our clients, we notice an unfortunate sameness of website look/feel and messaging within given industries or professions. Search for "civil litigation attorney," for example. Click on the first few firms in the results page …
One of the best ways to get found online is to add a blog to your website. Why is adding a blog a key element of inbound marketing success? Let us count the ways.
You have no single better opportunity to increase your business this year than by making your website an inbound marketing hub. To define terms, inbound marketing is the art and science of getting found online through the creation of valuable content. It's rapidly supplementing or replacing traditional marketing tactics as the web becomes the place people go to find information, products and services.
How many of you have attended a Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook for Business presentation in the past year? How many have a clue as to how any of this fits into your business or marketing plan? If we were all together in a room, our bet is that most of the hands would go up on question one – and many fewer on question two.
We're here to help you figure it out. Social media is getting all of the buzz, but that's only one part of it. Every month in this space we'll be talking about how the rapidly growing, high-speed Internet is changing the way we do business.
Go Red For Women, American Heart Association
Nelson contributes a pro-bono Power Point presentation for a major fundraiser event.
"You have created something for us that raises the bar compared to past presentations."
Potoula Gjidija, Regional Director, Westchester & Fairfield Counties
Too many women die each year because they are unaware that heart disease is their No. 1 killer. One in three women suffers in silence, and almost one woman dies every minute of this largely preventable disease. Together, we can bring a voice to this silent killer to help save lives with the power of our very own voice. Did you know?
- Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women age 20 and over, killing approximately one woman every minute.
- More women die of cardiovascular disease than the next five causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.
- While 1 in 30 American women die of breast cancer, about 1 in 3 die from cardiovascular disease.
- Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
Seen in the Fairfield County Business Journal
Profits & Passions By Bob Chuvala — Bernadette Nelson, Adventure's good friend
For The Women's Business Development Center (WBDC)
"Afghan woman gets helping hand in Stamford" — Quote from Bernadette Nelson - October 2008
Presentation: Be Organized to Make the Most of Working with a Graphic Designer - August 2007
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