The Mobile Marketing Tidal Wave, Zero Competition, Just Send a Few Text Messages and Cash In

Posted on by blogger

Did you know that over 260 million Americans carry mobile phones? That’s over 85% of the whole of the country’s population. Did you also know that there are 5+ billion active mobile phones in the world right now? This number is growing rapidly, and as we all know there are over 300,000 android phones selling per day right now. It has also been estimated that in 2012, 9 trillion messages will be sent and delivered globally.

Now here’s another nifty fact. Text messaging alone has a 7 to 8 times higher open rate than email. The open rate for text messages is a whopping 97% open rate, compared to email, which is only 20%. When you get a text message, what is the first thing that you’re going to do? Read it, right? But do you open all your email messages that come into your inbox, or do you delete a whole chunk thinking that it’s spam? The speed of which a text message is opened is also usually much faster than that of email, occurring in the first few minutes, as opposed to an email, which might take a few days to read, if opened at all.

How Businesses Win With Mobile Marketing

Keeping all of the above in mind, the timing is ripe for SME’s to start to take advantage of the multi-trillion dollar mobile market. Why? Because businesses can no longer effectively update customers through email marketing. Email inboxes of customers are getting spammed by all types of services, that customers no longer have the appetite to sift through their emails one by one. But, as we know (at least in the next few years), practically all new messages sent to mobiles are opened and read, and most are opened within the first few seconds too.

Method For Profit

Let’s take the example of a restaurant:

1) Restaurant signs up to a text messaging service, and obtains a short code for the service – this means that whenever a customer texts the short code to a specific number, they subscribe for text coupons.

The person who gets all the answers correctly is given prizes. Since prizes are involved the public tends to participate and are much more interested hence the company is able to reach out to them.

SMS marketing is another technique that is being actively employed by marketers. It is found that many small businesses in comparison to big businesses have benefited from employing this technique. In this technique short messages are sent to the public explaining about their company’s products. Marketers are trying to reach out to as many people as possible hence SMS marketing plays an important role in bringing up the sales.

The latest trend that is being observed in the business world is integration of social media and mobile marketing. Many marketers have found this technique to be extremely profitable and are working to enhance the features of this marketing technique to make it even more efficient. Usage of social websites for marketing has its own advantages such as free promotion of products and publicity for the company.

According to a news brief by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the next year will see a boom in mobile marketing as more businesses use advertising strategies that fully incorporate text messaging and other SMS techniques. Additionally, the majority of those businesses are already using mobile to increase their advertising budgets over the same twelve-month period.

Golf Course Marketing Has Changed

Posted on by blogger

Golf course marketing has changed! Private club marketing has changed! Times have changed and now its time that you as the owner, general manager or board member realize that the old way of golf advertising or golf marketing is no longer valid to generate additional golfers and members. It is time to look at what is really working in our technology age and be able to track our results. Any good golf marketing expert will tell you that what gets measured accurately, improves. The problem is that most golf courses or clubs dont know have a Golf Course Marketing. Plan and for sure dont know how to track their ROI. Thats about to change.

Understanding that most daily fee courses or private country clubs are working from a limited budget or in some cases no budget at all, it is imperative to make sure that every dollar is accounted for and you can verify Return on Investment. That way, you can determine what is working and what is not and spend more time on what is working and less on what is not. You will also be able to go to all decision makers and show proven results and feel confident that your golf club marketing is heading in the right direction.

What I am talking about is Internet Marketing for courses and clubs. This is the missing link for most golf marketing programs. What specifically am I talking about? #1) Having a marketing plan. Most clubs dont have one and wing their efforts day to day. Create one that is simple, cost – effective, consistent and measurable. #2) TRAFFIC!! Everything starts with traffic. Generating more online traffic to your website using strategies like SEO, PPC, Blogging, Facebook or educational article and video marketing. #3) Capturing lead information while they are on your site but also taking advantage of the traffic already at your course using offline email capture strategies with your staff . #4) Getting reviews and testimonials from your happy golfers and members and posting them online for the world to see. #5) Asking for referrals from your happy golfers and members.

Understanding what your perfect golfer or member life-cycle looks like will dramatically help change and put you on the road to success, but choosing the right tactics and strategies to get the best measurable ROI is absolutely critical!

Increase Club Profits is a unique Golf Marketing and Cost Reduction company that helps drive sales and membership while reducing clubs operating expenses without sacrificing quality or service. Our typical client will receive $50,000 of bottom line measurable savings in the first 12 months and page one rankings on most search engines.

Effective Uses of Social Media Marketing

Posted on by blogger

With the correct approach and networking knowledge, social media marketing is a valuable form of advertising for all businesses.

In the current technology-heavy era, social media marketing has morphed into an important outlet for businesses of all kinds. While some use social networks to spread word of a company, others see it as an important way to interact with customers. Social media outlets allow for something completely new and effective: interactive advertising.

Facebook has become one of the most popular channels of social media marketing. Musicians use the website to promote new albums and present music videos. Movies Facebook pages display release dates and post trailers. Stores and shopping malls post the latest sales and merchandise.

The most successful businesses receive heavy interaction with users “liking” pages and posts, as well as commenting on walls. More Cupcakes, for example, takes a unique approach to enhancing user interaction through social media marketing. To engage customers, More, a gourmet cupcake shop, posts weekly photos of different flavors of cupcakes. Fans of the More page then tag themselves in the picture and those who tag themselves, up to 50 per photograph, receive the cupcake free when they visit the Chicago shop. This marketing approach, not only brings traffic to Mores Facebook page, but it also drives customers into the store itself.

Another trendy outlet of social media marketing has become Twitter over the past few years. The current fast-paced society values short, concise information, which is what Twitter offers to its users. Businesses must communicate a message in 140 characters or less. Although it can be difficult to remain direct and to the point, clients and customers are able to make it through the end of short tweets before a phone ring or new email creates a distraction.

JetBlue Airways knows that, when it comes to social media marketing, the most important people to clients are themselves. This knowledge is what makes the company successful in the Twitter world. JetBlue tweets about the airlines latest deals and discounts, something that will benefit all of its flying followers. The business, which currently has over 1.6 million followers, also posts a variety of travel tips to help users deal with stressful airports and flights. In addition to tweeting useful information, JetBlue excels in customer interaction by frequently responding to other Twitter users.

Aimed at individuals more than large corporations, LinkedIn also offers networking through social media marketing. The site resembles an interactive phonebook, providing the opportunity to reconnect with old colleagues and get in touch with new connections in the users industries. LinkedIn works well for those who wish to display personal websites and resumes as well as recommending other clients and employees.

Myspace, a form of social media marketing that was replaced by Facebook years ago, is starting to make a comeback. The websites new look makes it more user-friendly and visually appealing than it once was. The outlet has now taken on the entertainment industry, focusing mostly on music, movies, TV and celebrities. Myspaces roller coaster of success and failure shows how important it is for businesses to keep up to date with the most current forms of social media marketing, an industry thats constantly changing.

Improved Marketing By Using Social Sites

Posted on by blogger

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube changes, with the help of a Tutorial, how small and medium sized companies can gain followings in tens of thousands and get sales to go up and up.

The company realized that even with a skilled team of Internet Marketing consultants, the new marketing media emerging from Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other sites, made it necessary, that also they themselves learned it all, again.

The company therefore decided to locate the planet’s ten finest specialists in Social Media Marketing.

After hearing many mind-blowing success stories, they decided on establishing a close cooperation with someone who really knew about social media marketing and had a large following.

The person selected was Mr. Reinhard Muller. Born in Scandinavia, with a prestigious career in advertising, Reinhard moved some year ago to the South of France, specialising in Internet Marketing. Then Social Media Marketing started to take off – and Reinhard saw the ‘possibilities’ and became passionate about this new media, making himself and his team into one of the world’s top specialist operating on Twitter, MyFace and Youtube.

Reinhard Muller created a program which brings any person, unsure about Social Media, to understand this new marketing media and be able to use Social Media commercially, promoting their own business. It can be operated in limited geographical areas.

Social Media Marketing is used by start-up and established companies, manufacturing units, artists, local suppliers, restaurants, authors, dentists, printers, publishers, hotels, caterers, delicatessens, supermarkets, sports-clubs, health clubs, estate agents, photographers, retail shops, hairdressers etc.

Companies uses Social Media Marketing primary – a recent poll made clear – to interact in a new way with customers – one to one – to drive the most motivated traffic to their website and stop damaging complaints or disputes with their customers, which nowadays due to the power of Social sites can spread like a wild-fire.

There is no marketing cost when using Social Media Marketing, which is why it has become so popular, but an investment in 2 x 15 minutes daily is vital.

These are many large companies using Social Media Marketing on a daily basis: Amazon, Dell, Motorola, Starbucks, Urban Outfitters, ComCast, Vodafone, Quantas, Virgin, Ford, Samsung, Kodak and so it goes on.

One can learn to administer the time working on Social Media by promoting the right person inside the company. How to improve the company’s reputation and increase brand awareness, building a huge and growing following in thousands and ten thousands on Twitter, Facebook,Youtube and other Social sites.

Here are four examples from well-known organizations.

The wizardly world of Harry Potter. Cindy Gordon, vice president of new media partnership at Universal Orlando Resort together with her counterpart at Warner Bros, realizing that millions of people are passionate about all things Harry Potter, pinpointed seven people at the top of various Harry Potter fan sites and invited them to participate in a top-secret Webcast. And those seven people told tens of thousands. It is estimated that by the power of word-of-mouse, 350 million people round the world heard the news. No expensive marketing.

Dell computers. The goal was to bring back the connection with the consumer in an innovative way and sell more products. The budget was zero. Social Media Marketing was introduced. Contacts with clients were started. Questions were answered right away. It all was suddenly very live and active on a 24-hour basis. Mark Jarvis, Dell Computers CMO, estimate the initiative created half million turnover and loads of good will for the well-known brand.

Zappos shoes. Founded in 1999, selling nothing the first year. Now projecting a billion dollars in turnover for 2009. The company’s impressive reputation for service has been build up by word of mouth and recommendation via Social Marketing. Without Social Media Marketing this would not have been possible. Zappos even train their employees on the effective use of Social Media. Four hundred employees now use Twitter. The company CEP uses Twitter for everyday business. To sell shoes the staff talk with customers and invite them and their friends to ‘happy hours’ organised by the company.

Club Med. The Club decided to send a good blogger on an all expenses paid holiday to Chamonix, to describe the experience exactly as it was on Twitter and place photos via TwitterR. Her messages were taken up by many blogs and then spread between like-minded people. The cost of sending someone on holiday became out of proportion to the enormous buzz created round the Club Med at Chamonix followed by long term bookings.

Barack Obama Presidential Campaign Manager David Meerman Scott used Social Media Marketing and sound principles when running the Presidential Internet Campaign.

The financial crises and now a few Green Shoots appearing, has made Social Media Marketing the marketing tool of the time, which more and more companies turn to. The no cost, being fast – and the enormous audience has made it to, what thousands of start-ups, small and medium sized companies are concidering just now.

Is Your Phone Part Of Your Marketing Plan

Posted on by blogger

Attracting new clients in this economy can be a challenge. You need to get creative and adapt the way you promote yourself.

Here are a few simple strategies that you can implement and integrate in your marketing plan today. There is a tool that lots of small business neglect. It is just right there on your desk, but you may not think about it or and you may even be afraid of it.

What is this tool, I am talking about? Your phone. Yes, your phone is a powerful tool that you could use effectively to attract new clients.

In 1998 I started a telemarketing company in France and I was spending 6 to 7 hours on the phone, selling my clients products or setting up appointments for them. I know that calling prospects is not very fun, but I am not speaking of cold calling here. I don’t want you to buy lists of potentials clients and speak to total strangers. I am talking of integrating your phone as part of your follow-up system. You will contact only people that you already met at networking events or online via social media.

Let’s say that you attend networking events on a regular basis, you probably have tons of business cards on your selves or on a shoes box, and are just not doing anything with them. Go back to this pile of business cards, send an email to reintroduce yourself. Use your normal introduction about your services and ask those people what you can do for them or how you can help them. If you get a response, instead of emailing the person back, pick up the phone and call them. You already spoke with the person or met them online. It impresses people that you take the time to actually connect one on one. Make sure you are not trying to sell them anything, that is the tricky part, give them free and valuable information that could help their business. Networking is not about you, it is about them. Networking is not about selling but building a relationship.

If people don’t reply to your first email, don’t be mad, it doesn’t means they are not interested right this minute or they haven’t read your email yet, or maybe it went to spam, or they maybe too busy at the moment. There is no reason to fret. There are a thousand reasons people don’t get back to you right away. Wait for few days or a couple of weeks and send another email or send them some information by mail. You remember the old way to do business – using the post office, well it still works, but only if you actually use it! Combining email and mail doubles your chance to reach people and double your rate of answers. When you pick up the phone after a couple of exchanges, you will see that you will get a lot more chance to attract clients.

After all this online and print information they have received from you they already know about you and your business. They know you care about their problems and can provide them valuable information, so they will either take the time to speak with you on a spot or if you call at a bad time you will get a chance to schedule a phone appointment to speak with them at a later date.

What about calling your previous clients, they already know and like working with you? Do you have a new product or service that you would like to tell them about? Always remember to list the benefits and describe how your new product will help them. Too many small business owners are too busy selling and marketing that they neglect their current clients. It is much easier to have a client become a repeat client than to get a new client. So check your database, who could you call right now?

I don’t have my telemarketing company anymore but on my French consulting business “My French Network” that I started in the US few years ago, I still use the same techniques. I contact each and every person who contacted me for a free consultation. Starting a business in the US for a foreigner can take months or years, time to find the funds or get all the immigration requirements. I give my clients a call within 3 months of the consultation to make sure they are getting somewhere in their process. Then I give them a call at least every 3 months to get updates on their project. If they are still not ready for my help I may call them every 6 months. In the meantime I keep sending my newsletter, stay on top of their mind and check up via email to keep them interested. When I call they are not surprised; they do not reject my call. They are actually glad to see that I still follow their cases and I am still there to help them; I am still building the relationship.

So pick up your phone NOW.

Call your previous clients; reconnect with the people you met since the beginning of the year. Find out how you can help them. Create a follow-up system to keep in touch with them on a regular basis. Don’t just call once and forget about it. Use software like Act or OutLook Express to set reminders of when to call. Schedule a few hours a week to call your contacts and clients. Try it for the next 30 days, track your results, and then check how many new clients come rolling in. You will be surprised by the results. Integrate the process into your daily marketing plan.

Your own phone can change your business, it is as simple as that.

Creating a follow-up system is an integral part of Power of Networking Secrets. You will discover the step-by-step process to integrate and customize simple, yet effective strategies to put your follow-up system on auto-pilot. You will do the set-up work once then let your system work for you! so you will work once, then your system will work for you.
Check Out here PowerofNetworkingSecrets.com

If you like this article and want more networking tips to attract clients, get my Free Audio “Networking Made Easy” at http://www.powerofnetworkingsecrets.com

Biba F. Pdron, Business & Marketing Consultant, founder of Biba4Network, also knows as “The Connection Queen”, helps solo-entrepreneurs to maximize their networking results and reveal proven strategies to attract more clients and double your business with simple but effective networking system.

Biba is the author of “Start Your Dream Business Today! The Proven 11 Steps to Start and Grow Your Own Business”. And “Power of Networking Secrets” a program teaching you step-by-step how to turn more networking contacts into business boosting clients in 7 simple steps.