Tips & trends for developing your online marketing plan #2

This the second in our series on developing your online marketing plan.  If you missed our first blog in the series, check it out at Organikmarketing/blog/.

As we mentioned in the last blog, we thought it was a good time of year to address planning for 2011.  We've already covered the reasons for planning and tips for getting started.  This blog focuses on tips for planning your mobile marketing strategy.

Mobile - The overwhelming popularity of mobile devices is really driving the local trend in online marketing.  For starters, we suggest you make sure your website has been optimized for mobile devices.  More and more people are accessing web sites, conducting searches, and connecting on social networks via their mobile device.

If you haven't already done so, make sure you install the apps you use (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Hootsuite, Foursquare etc.) onto your mobile device.  That way you are always in touch and you can better understand how your customers are using these apps, giving you ideas for your maketing plan.

Whenever communicating with your customers via social networks, it is important to think mobile.  Chances are good that your customers are connecting with you from their mobile device.  For example, recent research indicates there are 150 million mobile Facebook users.

Next, we suggest doing some research on social networking apps that offer some really great marketing opportunities when enabled on mobile devices. A few that we suggest are worth checking out include;

• Foursquare
• Yelp
• Facebook Places

So, how can these apps be used for marketing your small business?  They could open up exciting possibilities for local advertising tie-ins, coupons, offers etc.  As a small business you may have the ability to display an ad, offer a coupon, give a reward for checking in to potential customers when they are currently near/at your business.  With some apps, such as Facebook places, you will even have the possibility of knowing their specific likes so you can further customize your message.

If you'd like more information on implementing mobile marketing or setting up your online marketing plan, contact us at OrganikSEO.com

Tips & trends for developing your online marketing plan #1

This time of year many businesses start the planning process for the upcoming calendar year.  In this blog and the next few in this series, we offer some tips for developing your online marketing plan.

If you develop an annual plan, great, we offer tips for streamlining your plan and things to consider with the ever changing world of online marketing.  If you haven't done any formal planning for your online marketing in the past, these tips should help get you started.

If you are like many small businesses, sitting down and putting together a comprehensive marketing plan is not at the top of your list.  But, we can't say enough about how important we think this step is.  You probably wouldn't set out on a road trip without a road map, GPS, Google maps etc.  A road map for the marketing of your business is equally as essential.

Spending some time now to discover more about your customers, your competition, what is working and what can be improved can not only give you tremendous insights but can also be a lot of fun and, we bet, rewarding.

Ok, hopefully we have you convinced on the importance of this step.  So let's get started.

(1) A good place to start is with a review of 2010.

• Actual performance vs. goals
• What marketing programs worked & why?
• What marketing programs didn't work & why?
• How much did you spend on marketing? Was it allocated properly?
• What was your ROI on marketing spend?

If you don't already know a lot about your customers, consider doing a survey.  Some of the things to find out;

• who are your customers?
• what do they like about your product/service?
• how did they find out about you?
• what else they would like to purchase from you?
• what could be improved?
• what social networks are they active on?
• are they following you? If not, why not?

Once you've done a good review of 2010,

(2) Set your goals for 2011.

(3) Establish your marketing budget.

We think the good news here is that if you are not already using social media or it represents only a small part of your marketing campaign, you can get a lot of mileage with social media for relatively low expense. More about that in the next blog in this series.

Of course we realize that every company and business will have unique needs and develop unique online marketing strategies.  However, we have developed the following points to consider as you build your marketing plans for 2011.

The buzz indicates that some key trends for next year will be Location, Mobile and Social.  We believe it will be important to incorporate these into your online marketing plans.

Today we will focus on Location based services.

There are an increasing number of applications and technologies that enable location based services for online marketing; Google Places, Facebook Places, Google Local Business Search Results, to name a few.  Make sure you claim your business on all of the location based services and then optimize your listing to ensure your business stays on top of lists and facilitates engagement with your customers.  If you haven't already done so, you might want to check out apps like Foursquare or Facebook "Places" to see if you can tap into the local online opportunities.  Click here for a good review of Foursquare.

Where the location based services become really interesting and powerful from a marketing perspective is when they are enabled on mobile devices. 

So, how could this be used for marketing your small business?  These tools could open up exciting possibilities for local advertising tie-ins, coupons, offers etc.  As a small business you may have the ability to display an ad or offer a coupon to potential customers who, through their profile, you know like the type of products and services you offer when they are currently near your business. Wow - we think that could be really powerful.  Click here to read our blog on using Facebook Places.

Look for upcoming blogs where we'll cover tips for incorporating Mobile and Social into your online marketing plan.

If you have any questions or would like help in optimizing your local business listing or developing your online marketing plan, contact us at OrganikSEO.com

New Facebook "Places" gives small biz more marketing power

Last week Facebook announced the launch of their "Places" location based service.

We think this feature could not only be fun to use, but could also become a great tool for marketing your small business.  Following is quick overview of what it is and how it could play an important role in social media marketing for small businesses.

Facebook describes the feature as a way to help people share;

• where they are
• who is around them
• what is going on
• new places to go

Basically, you "check-in" using the Facebook "Places" feature and your activity shows up in your Facebook newsfeed.

If you use Foursquare or Gowilla - "Places" is based on a similar idea.

Where the "Places" feature becomes really interesting and powerful from a marketing perspective is when it is enabled on mobile devices.  The "Places" feature is currently enabled on iPhone and is in the works for Android and Blackberry.

So, how could this be used for marketing your small business?  This feature could open up exciting possibilities for local advertising tie-ins, coupons, offers etc.  As a small business you may have the ability to display an ad or offer a coupon to potential customers who, through their Facebook profile, you know like the type of products and services you offer when they are currently near your business. Wow - we think that could be really powerful.  To get started with "Places" for promoting your business, you first need to claim your Facebook Place page.

There is a lot of buzz about this new feature, both positive and negative. As with any location based service, think Foursquare or Gowilla, privacy issues are always a conern.  It remains to be seen how far and wide the "Places" feature will be adopted.  We'll be watching this closely and keep you updated as this new feature evolves.

If you have any questions or would like help in claiming your Facebook Place page, contact us at OrganikSEO.com