Jody Raines, Author at Jody Raines

July 17, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Social Media And Social Networking: Best Practices And Big Mistakes For LinkedIn

Social media, especially LinkedIn, are networking tools which, when applied correctly, can potentially grow your business exponentially. Utilizing social media channels correctly shouldn’t be difficult, yet for some reason, the people who use all social media channels to blast out the same message, will continue to barrage the wrong people with the wrong messaging. What a turn off. Indeed, the folks who use social media incorrectly will stop reading and continue to make the same mistakes that cause prospects to opt-out and disconnect.

If you find that you have a large number of opt-outs of your email campaigns, or you notice that your social media followers or likes are dwindling, read on…

Here are the three biggest LinkedIn Mistakes that I see over and over again… by sales and marketing “pros” who are too eager to “use” social media to generate leads.

Frankly, any of the following mistakes would result in not connecting, disconnecting or opting out.

Three BIG LinkedIn Mistakes:

First mistake – if you met someone at a networking event, chamber meeting, or family barbecue and you exchanged business cards that’s not always the best way to add to your network. When you establish a rapport with someone, and you feel that you can confidently recommend their services or refer business to them, then you should add them to your network. A great thing to do when you add someone is to mention how you met them or something from that conversation. I cannot tell you the number of times I have not accepted a request to connect because I didn’t remember whether I knew the person or how we met.

Second mistake – if the person connects with you, please, do not send them a note immediately trying to share what you do and why they should work with you. Unless that’s continuing a conversation where the person indicated that they were interested, slamming someone that way will not endear you to the new connection.

Third mistake – if you think it’s cool to send your ‘newsletter’ or ‘announcement’ to all your contacts through LinkedIn and that your going to get a ton of business that way, thing again. It’s actually somewhat disrespectful to send a blanket email to your contacts that way. No one wants to be addressed as “Dear Contact”. The power of LinkedIn is that it gives you some great information, and you have the opportunity to make the connection more personal.

Best practices – LinkedIn

Here’s a recipe to utilize the power of Linked in that can work for you. Let me know if you have other tips that work well, and we can share them.

Fill in your entire profile. LinkedIn represents an opportunity to share your resume online. Be complete and share relevant information that can be searched for keywords.
Use links to your website and change the description for SEO. The links in your profile use default descriptions for “my website” and “m y blog”. You can change these to a phrase or company name for improved search engine optimization.
Ask for Referrals. If one of your contacts is connected to someone you would like to know, there is an appropriate way to request a referral. Be sure to explain how you can HELP the recipient contact. If you only want to connect to sell them something, or if you do not add value, you should re-think wasting your contact’s time.
Connect with your former associates. Think about high school or college – each of your friends there has gone on to different organizations or companies. Adding them to your network can expand the strength of your network considerably. People you used to work with, for example, most likely have moved on to other positions within other organizations. Adding them to your network gives you the opportunity to connect with their connections or ask fro introductions… Very powerful when used correctly!
Join groups. A little known feature of groups is that it adds the ability to connect with other members of the group. If you want to meet people or add to your network, joining groups and participating in group discussions is a great way to get your name out there.
Ask questions. Withing groups and within LinkedIn, asking questions can help you to identify others who can utilize your services. A well worded question can expose motivations and vulnerabilities that you have the ability to help with. For example, a client who does vehicle wraps could ask a question regarding the top issues for wrapping a fleet of vehicles. If answered, the person has now identified the fact that they have a fleet of vehicles and that they are having a problem. Based upon the problem, this could be an amazing prospect… Think about it!
Connect with other group members. Other group members have networks too – and their network could be greatly different than yours. By connecting with others in your group, you now have new contacts that are just a couple of degrees of separation from you, and those numbers increase algebraically.
Use Search to connect with company. If you use the search function within LinkedIn, it helps you discover who, within your network, may be connected with someone at that company. Try it – it’s very cool!
Ask for introductions. If you share how you can help the person you are requesting an introduction to, and if you have a good relationship with the person from whom you are requesting the introduction, this can be a powerful tool.
Post periodically. Recently LinkedIn introduced the ability to have articles posted. It’s wonderful exposure – you never know who you may reach! If your post is intelligent and has good content, you will get some attention.

There are many new and exciting ways to utilize the power of LinkedIn for connecting and generating new leads. What are some of the ways that you have had success? Have you tried any of these ideas? What was the result?

June 22, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

How To Develop An Online Brand

When it comes to being discovered online, the one part of your online presence that you “own” is your website. Your website should be the cornerstone of your online strategy – the information contained is the beacon that customers can find when they look for you or your services.

But, your website is only a part of your online campaign for online branding. Granted, an optimized website is the most important component of your online marketing strategy, however even with the most glorious and well thought-out website, you may be missing huge opportunities to support your product, champion your brand and connect with your customers and prospects.

Social media marketing was a “buzzword” that we started to discuss a several years ago. You may also have heard the terminology “new marketing” or “online marketing” or even “inbound marketing”. The concept is to create an optimized online presence to help your customers find you and your business. A lot of the social media “guru’ types talked about “engagement” and there was much nodding of heads. But the reality is that there is very little engagement happening, even today, because so many companies have opted to run automated campaigns.

I’m not against all automation, but it just does not work for every organization in every situation. Especially in times of high national tension, when the focus is on an earthquake or superstorm, having an automated message about sunny skies is a real disconnect with your audience. The worst thing you can to is have your customers disengage, opt out, and disconnect. Now, those wonderful social channels have worked against you.

If I had to pick one word to describe the best practices for social media marketing, that word would be responsive. Not only are we striving for responsive design in websites, but we also should be responsive to our audience and to the societal and cultural changes around us. If you are responsive, you are creating content that is relevent and that has true appeal to your targeted customers.

A responsive website is one that fluidly re-conforms to the device it is being viewed on. Newer websites are being created that have this feature built in. Some of the older websites have both a desktop version and a mobile version. Without getting too technical, what you want to be sure to do is to present the version that is best viewed on the device that the viewer is using at the time they visit your site. It makes perfect sense, right?

One of my biggest frustrations is one of the news alert services that I use that sends me a link to an article that I want to read. When I click on the link, I’m taken to a general page that may or may not contain the article. Eventually, I stop clicking on the link and ignore the alert. I may even unsubscribe from the alert. This is no different than putting the wrong terminology or advertising or teaser to an article, then sending the reader to a site that is so general, they get turned off. Social media is an awesome tool to drive traffic to your site – just be sure that the link is truly the target of the tweet or Facebook post. Otherwise, you will lose customers.

When it comes to internet branding and social media optimization, the rules for marketing have changed, and without a social media presence, you will be a dinosaur. Customers are searching and researcing using the Internet. There is an entire generation that is growing up in a world where using Google is second nature to find answers. The changes that search engines have gone through are taken in stride, and adopted readily. To be sure that your online brand is being appropriately represented in today’s informational society means you have to be relevent and you have to be present. That includes social media. The old excuse that your customers don’t use social media is becoming tired and inaccurate. Your customers use social media, and they use it every day. They may be checking their email first thing in the morning, which includes their Facebook statuses and their friend’s updates. The way we communicate is much more fluid, more rapid and most likely, online.

Be aware of derogatory messages about your brand and be responsive. Don’t hide from critical reviews, but address them with equally positive reviews from your customers.

Social media marketing, is primarily social, and secondarily its media, and finally, it’s marketing. Keeping the appropriate perspective will go a long way to your successful online branding and internet marketing campaign.

February 28, 2018 By Jody Raines 1 Comment

3 Key Tips For Internet Branding

Branding is a business marketing campaign necessity. Having a brand helps clients and prospects remember your company’s name and services and forms a comfortable association between your product and offer. In an increasingly competitive market, utilizing branding techniques builds a dependable and trustworthy identity for your company, one that your customers and potential customers will rely upon when making a choice of product or service.

Understanding how to create a brand or identity utilizing Internet marketing strategy is important for businesses to compete in today’s new media marketplace. While creating a website that proves well in the search engine rankings is great, it’s not the only mechanism or tool a marketer must have to build an effective marketing campaign that drives conversions. Even the best seo will understand that if there is a disconnect between the keywords and the Internet presence, you may have all the traffic to your site that you need, but conversions won’t happen.

I recently was asked to do SEO for a a company that was concerned because they are not getting sales. An evaluation of the online assets revealed that the company’s website had good traffic, and they were ranking for keywords that were appropriate. So, why weren’t they getting sales? Frankly, it’s because the branding was a disconnect with the customer’s expectations.

If you are offering a product that is handcrafted and upscale, you should pick appropriate colors versus offering a product that’s popular and young. With the handcrafted item, colors that are rich and luxurious like ivory and burgundy and sage would be appropriate. With a youthful, popularly priced product, go for the brights. In either case, the message and the look and feel should match to create a powerful brand message.
Here are 3 key aspects to branding in today’s marketing:

Branding your website is the important first step. Understanding who your customer is and what their preferences are is important to identifying how to brand your website. Especially if your color palette is inconsistent with customer expectations, you’ll find out pretty quickly that you’ve made a mistake. Not only is color critical, it’s also important to create a user interface that reflects what your customer is searching for more than what you feel you want to present to the customer. Having a website that’s all about “us” versus all about “you” is a common mistake. however having a unique graphic design, graphic logo, color theme and a smart targeted message will differentiate your company from the competition.
Branding your Social Media is key to business engagement. Recognizing your brand when connecting with social media reinforces your company message and identity. Just having a Twitter account with the default icon is enough to inspire a lack of trust by potential customers. You should brand all of your social media accounts to match the look and feel of your website consistently. Facebook business pages, Google+ business pages and your Twitter profile are all part of a cultivated business brand that inspires trust and conveys branded messaging that is mutually reinforcing. Utilizing social media also enables you to identify customer issues and react to them quickly – creating a rapport between you and your customers that wasn’t achievable before social media became a popular marketing tool.
Branding your business blog is important for developing credibility and authority. The difference between a blog and static pages on the website is that the blog is a great way to position yourself as a thought leader and build content dynamically for your website. The blog is used to answer questions and pose helpful ideas as opposed to selling your product or service. Branding your blog to complement your website is an important approach to creating a brand identity. Branding your company blog helps to establish your your business’ reputation as a valuable source of information.

Whether you are a small business or an enterprise, your marketing strategy is important, and now with the power of Internet marketing, it’s critical that all components work in unison to build brand recognition. What is your branding strategy? Have you identified who your customer is and what their persona is? How do you know that your marketing is working together to create a powerful brand? Is it?

February 26, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Should You DIY Your Website? Tips For Better User Experience And Design

A friend recently posted on Facebook that her new ‘business website’ has launched. She proudly asked for all of her friends to come and visit and share what they thought. The well-meaning friends who complimented her on the site fueled her enthusiastic response that she created the site herself using a free service. She then offered to ‘create’ websites for her friends who may need a website as well.

While well-intentioned and visible as a website, most small and micro businesses do not realize that there is a mountain of difference between having a website and having an effective website. Even in discussions with clients, I find that many otherwise savvy business people just don’t seem to understand the difference of what constitutes an effective website versus having a brochure online.

If you simply want a place that you can point a prospect to in order to learn about what you do, and you do this by giving them the web address or URL, then by all means, save money and use a free service. For the most part, getting a website as a DIY project will save you money, and possibly time if you are working with an inexperienced or slow web designer. For businesses who have gone the budget website route (like my friend) they have wound up with a site that was poorly thought through, has non indexible content and pages, and cannot be easily updated.

If you are hopeful to develop an effective website, and have prospects find your website online when searching for services you offer, this is not likely to happen with a DIY website.

The difference between a DIY website and one that is professionally produced are manifold. For example, a web designer will help you determine the navigation for your website. This is one of the most critical phases and will determine the “user interface” – in other words, the way that a visitor to your website will navigate to find what they need. A good web design can help the visitor find what they are looking for in the least amount of clicks. Web dev’s understand that too many clicks will result in a lost opportunity, particularly if the individual cannot find the information they are seeking.

Another problem with DIY websites is that they are not created with an eye to optimizing load time and images. Certainly pretty images look great, but if the image file is too large, it will increase load time, and if you’ve ever had to wait for a website to load, you understand that most people won’t! Check your “bounce” rate using Google Analytics and you will see that there are some pages that have high bounce rates. One reason could be that the page takes too long to load… Another reason is that the keywords that brought the reader to that page may be inconsistent with the content the prospect is seeking.

One of the most frequent issues I notice with DIY websites as well as with professionally created websites is the content. I recently visited with a business that supplies software as a service for the mortgage loan industry, and their website suffered from this affliction. Most businesses tend to think of their business in terms of the ptoducts or services they offer. This is in stark contrast with their prospective customer’s motivation; Most customers think of the product or service in terms of how it meets their needs. This is evident in the navigation, the content and will pervasively limite the appeal and results of “SEO” for the website. The problem is manifest in website navigation that is organized in terms that the business thinks makes sense, but is difficult or complex for customers to navigate to find what they want.

A good example that comes to mind is a sign company that I worked with. The owner of ths sign company was frustrated after working with many SEO companies, and spending a lot of money. His website was still buried and not coming up, plus his sales were not coming from the website. We took a look at the site, and the HOME page was so broad and general that it really did not do a good job of presenting anything. We discussed the types of businesses who are most profitable for him, and then reworked the navigation to appeal to the customer’s perspective. Upon re-launch of the site, he saw a huge improvement in inbound leads and business, and was so excited about the transformation of his online business that he became an “inbound marketing consultant” to help others learn what he felt was a winning strategy.

Another example is a small company that manufactures compartmentalized handbags. The bags are geared towards two different markets – they are oversized and help to organize a lot of items, so they are great as a designer diaperbag, and they are also terrific for the working woman executive to carry a notebook or tablet and other office essentials in fashion. The navigation did nothing to help these two audiences find the section that appealed to their needs because the navigation was organized by the colors of the product. Since the product could be used differently regardless of the color, women executives may have been turned off by the diaperbag images, and the mommy buyers could not relate to the business photos. The solution was to create a navigation that would divide the site by customer use and present the appropriate and compelling images and content for those audiences.

If you’ve ever searched for Homemade Dog Food recipes you may have found this next example client. When I first started talking with them, they had a website that was so technical I wasn’t sure what they were trying to sell. It turns out it was a supplement and recipes for a feeding system if you wanted to make homemade dog food. The product makes sense, but if you didn’t know what it was, it would have been difficult to acertain from the picture of a beautiful clean kitchen. The HOME page now features rotating graphics about the benefits of a great home-made diet from healthy glossy coats to renewed activity and vigor and directs prospects to free recipes that all explain the benefits of adding the nutrients in correct proportions…

If you are creating your own website, you may save a few bucks at the outset, but in the long run, if you are serious about your business, you will find that the value of having an inbound marketing professional’s insights can make the difference between having a website and having an effective website.

February 21, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Social Media Fail: Are You Using Linkedin Wrong?

Linkedin: Are You Doing It Wrong?

If you had a dollar for every mistake that someone made using social media, you’d be a very wealthy person! In the meantime, the catalyst for this post was an email that I received from someone I am not well acquainted with, but who asked to connect with me on Linkedin.

The letter began with, “Im sorry to bother you but…”

For the record, I really like LinkedIn. It’s a resume online and also a living Rolodex (yes, I am dating myself), but the cool thing is that it enables me to keep up with my professional network despite years and distance and career hops and leaps and changes. I love the fact that each person updates their contact information so I can congratulate them on the promotions, or encourage them through the changes. It’s remarkable because it’s a tool for business relationships, unlike Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Instagram. In this respect, Linkedin is unique and I love that about this interface.

Common Linkedin Mistakes:

1. LinkedIn is a BUSINESS Social network platform

So, my first gripe with new users is a big mistake of not understanding the nature of Linked-in as a business platform. It’s fine to connect with friends and expand your relationship to include business. What is not fine is to undermine your professional account with a casual, non-business profile photo. That means the picture of your beautiful dog or amazing cat will not do – unless you want to give the impression of being less than credible. Also, the photo of you swinging a bat at the company softball game, not a good choice. You should pic a photo of you playing baseball if you are a pro baseball player, otherwise, it’s not the right image to project. Leave the sweatshirts, tank tops, cocktail hour, family vacation shots on Facebook – this is not the place for them.

2. Don’t spam the Linked in Connections

My second gripe – ok, so we are connected. Now is your chance! Develop a social media relationship, right? Send an email, get to know each other… or wait, try to sell me something? What? I don’t really know you, I connected because perhaps we met at an event and had a nice conversation… the reality is that you don’t know me, don’t know my company and you are sending me the same template email you sent to everyone else. Do you really think I am going to jump out of my seat now that I got your email and pick up the phone to buy what you are selling? I don’t think so. In fact, most sales take place after you have developed a relationship. Social media is “social” for a reason – to use it as a device to create more emails to send out letter to is a disservice to you, your organization and it’s disrespectful of the connection. If you use Linked in to attempt to sell to me, you risk being disconnected. If I like you, I may reach out to you first, to try to explain why what you did was a bad idea… if that doesn’t work, will disconnect. Part of the power of linkedin is the ability to potentially connect with the connections of the person you are connected to. Yes, that sounds complicated, but what it means is that my network is now open for you to peruse. Why would I open my network to someone who seems to be ignorant of the protocols? I don’t want to be associated with that behavior, nor would I do business with someone who utilizes a network that way, so it’s not a loss to disconnect.

3 Linkedin is about QUALITY not QUANTITY

My third gripe and a very common mistake, is the false belief that someone who has a lot of connections must be very important. There are some people on Linkedin who will connect with anyone and everyone – this is called an “Open Networker” To say that someone has the “most” connections on Linked in does not say the same thing as having the most relationships. There is greater power in having relationships where you can ask or share or tell and it has some influence. The relative amount of influence if directly correlated to the depth of the relationship and the mutual respect. If I met you once at a networking event, and you immediately stared spamming my inbox, there is no mutual respect, no relationship, and no reason to continue to stay ‘connected’.

Bottom line: I suppose if you start an email with “I’m sorry to bother you, but…” you already know it’s not a good idea to send the email, right?

February 18, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Why Do People Unsubscribe From Your Email Campaign?

ITo have the email read, personalize, not just the email itself, but the content.

Email marketing can be powerful and effective. It can bring prospects closer and nurture leads. It can also be a deadly way to lose contacts and potential connections.

Today I unsubscribed from an unsolicited email announcing a web-based radio show that for some reason I need to know about. The announcement came from a person that I exchanged cards with at a networking function. The announcement was all about him, and his new wonderful radio show – with no logical reason that I would want to listen to it. In fact, it featured a big picture of him, right in the middle, and some jargon about when the show will be recorded.

In addition, the email had a description that read something like “this is where you should describe your offer”. Seriously. He hadn’t even revised the boilerplate. Not impressed.

In today’s digital marketing environment, that’s just not good enough. If you expect to be accepted as a professional business person, you need to realize that the name of the game in digital marketing is personalization. It you are doing business the old way and sending out a blanket one-size-fits-all email to everyone, you are appealing to no one.

This must be my day for unsubscribing because I also unsubscribed from a Linkedin contact who sent a blanket email to everyone she is connected with on Linkedin. That’s not the way connect, nor are Linkedin contacts supposed to be used for overt solicitation. Frankly, this tells me a couple of things; one is that the person just does not understand why we connected, and two that I am not important to the person who sent these.

If you treat your connections indiscriminately, you deserve to have them disconnect from you. The first step is to opt out of your email blast. Too many opt outs, and you will begin to see that the mail services are not going to like handling your outbound email campaigns. In fact, you may wind up being booted.

Ever try to put together a program to increase your subscribers? It’s not that easy to entice new subscriptions. So, when you have a connection or you have a subscriber, treat them like gold.

Rules For Email Blasts:

Is your email personalized?

Does the recipient want to recieve the information? If you met at a networking event and exchanging cards is the sole basis for sending th email, you haven’t earned the right to include that email on your sending list. Before including them, send a special PERSONALISED email that reminds the person of how you met and explains the type of email you will be sending and ASKS if the person would like to recieve these types of emails. Better yet, give them a choice of topics and let them pick the topics that would be best for their needs. This means that your emails will be much more targed and less likely to be reported as SPAM. (This is called “opting in”).

Is the content targeted?

Is the email targeted content, or is it a broad announcement all about you? By targeted, what I mean is that the information contained is applicable to the industry, to the role, or in some way could be construed to be focused on the need of the person who is receiving it. Just to send out a blast all about you is really as dull as dating someone who only wants to talk about himself. Really dull. Don’t expect a second date and don’t expect that the recipient is actually going to read your pablum!

Is the email correct?

Have you completely filled in the template and tested it? Twice! The worst thing is to have an email blast go to your most treasured list of prospects and have it undermine your professionalism because it has a section that’s “greeked in”. Wow. I see this sometimes on website as well, where its funny text that is supposed to be replaced. Why should I spend my time reading it if you didn’t spend the time to put it together correctly. Send it to yourself. Send it to someone else. Make sure it’s correct.

Most important, be sure the message is appropriate and timely and has value. If your recipient feels the message is helpful, they will continue to look forward to. Your messages. Respect your subscribers, and they will respect you too.

February 6, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Fly Eagles? Fly Dogs! How Social Media Changed A Mascot

The Eagles WON the Super Bowl. Social Media is abuzz with burning questions regarding the team mascot: Is it a bird? Is it a German Shepherd? Or a is it a Belgian Malinois?

Ruger, a Belgian Malinois, pondering his resemblance to the Eagles Underdog

Some fans may have been puzzled that the Eagles, whose mascot, by the way IS an Eagle, were wearing dog masks. Most of the masks were a shepherd type dog with dark muzzle, but some creative types posted their masks of other breeds as their spirit moved them!

The CreepyParty German Shepherd Mask

The “underdogs” motif may not be officially Sanctioned, however they are proving popular with fans. What’s more fun than a graphic of a fierce dog/man who’s “gotta eat”, “gotta be trusted” or who can fly? Variations of the dog/bird/man can be found and purchased on street corners, on popular websites like Amazon, EBay and Etsy. Variants of the Eagles logo with a dog head are also popular.

Whether they are officially licensed or not (mostly not) the burning question in my mind is whether this dog tracks it’s lineage to the German Shepherd dog, a very popular and recognized breed, or whether it’s the Belgian Shepherd or Belgian Malinois, a breed that has gained popularity and favor with law enforcement and which has been glamorized recently in movies and television shows.

The official Eagles rendition does not even look like a German Shepherd OR a Malinois.

It’s easy to be confused or to mistake one for another. In fact, there are many crosses that are being touted as one or the other, but it takes an astute observer of the breed standard to discern which breed is predominant.

So I did a scientific analysis of the “underdog” mask. By scientific, I mean that I asked my friends who are dog breeders and have been involved with the breeds for many years what type of dog the mask represents. My Belgian Malinois friends all say the mask is a “really bad German Shepherd”. With this in mind, I asked my German Shepherd breeding friends, and their collective response was “We are not sure”.

So, considering that most people would not recognize a Belgian Malinois, and most would certainly recognize a German Shepherd or Shepherd Mix, I am going to concur with the masses, that this must be a German Shepherd.

Interesting side note, the mask, which was produced originally by a Chinese Company who had NO idea about the impending popularity, was sold out in one day on Amazon. All 230 of the CreepyParty “German Shepherd” masks were sold out in one morning. The owners of the company, Jason Lee had no idea what happened, and to his amazement, discovered that the sell out was due to the Eagles win over Atlanta in the playoffs, and two Eagles players, Lane Johnson and Chris Long, celebrated by donning the masks and embracing the role of “underdogs”. The rest was a social media firestorm, and adoption of the German Shepherd mask as a rallying cry to Eagles Fans everywhere.

So, don’t despair, Eagles fans… we are NOT losing an Eagle, we are gaining a German Shepherd as a mascot.

Congratulations #Eagles! #FlyDogs#Fly

February 3, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

QR Codes Are Dead? Long Live The QR Code!

QR Code #fail

Are QR codes dead, or are they making a comeback? This week, Amazon announced that they are introducing their own version of a QR code, called a “smile code” which can be scanned using the Amazon app to unlock discounts and specials. As an Amazon user, I’m intrigued, and I’m also curious whether this concept will get traction. The allure of unlocking a discount when I see one of these codes has a strange “Where’s Waldo” kind of quality that appeals to my inner adventurer and shopper. Who doesn’t love a deal? And I do have the Amazon app always handy to shop, or to scan a code.

A similar usage of the dreaded QR code was being implemented at stores like Best Buy to get in depth product information as a consumer walked down the aisle. I’ve personally attempted to use these, but found them to be cumbersome and they rarely yield the information that I seek. But to use the code, I had to navigate to find a QR reader app, use that app (which sometimes didn’t work) and the combination of time and steps involved proved a deterreant to my using them.

Then, you have the strange attempts by “creative” marketers, like the example in the photo above that I encountered while dining at a local establishment. Nice attempt, poorly thought through. Can you think of 3 reasons that it wouldn’t work? I can come up with at least a dozen!

But maybe, with technology catching up, the cumbersome QR code may make a comeback? After all, Snapchat users seem to love the integrated “snapcode” that enables the user to gain information or participate in a web experience. Is this due to the improvement in technology or user familiarity with the app, or maybe due to the reader being integrated into the app? A far different experience than expecting a pedestrian in New York City to whip out their phone, navigate to a Scanning app, and capture the QR code from the side of a bus before the bus turns the corner.

QR codes or quick response codes were hailed as a convenient way to encourage conversions with branded trade show giveaways, collateral or direct mail. QR codes became quite popular with marketers in Japan and Europe, and gained some traction within the US. Marketers felt that many mobile users would appreciate an easy, convenient way to get information and they hoped it would drive traffic to a website. Realtors utilized these qr codes on literature or signs for home buyers to have easy access to information about a property.

But did they work? Did they attract the bordes of the curious willing to whip out their mobile device, navigate to an app, then scan and enjoy?

Motivation and Effort

Whether on a billboard, a bus, a postcard or a business card the QR code is a method to get a lot of information into a little space. It depends upon the motivation of the viewer whether the opportunity gained by scanning is worth the effort, and also the amount of effort it takes to get to the information.

QR codes on billboards, the sides of buildings, as a tattoo, on t-shirts, on badges at trade shows, on business cards were hailed as the wave of the future. They were a virtual window to take a reader to a virtual place online. When the QR code is scanned by a smart phone (with a QR reader application) the QR code can direct the mobile user to a landing page or web site with additional information such as product information, sales information, directions, phone numbers or a host of other information that your marketing efforts can now easily get into the phones of potential customers.

But unfortunately, QRs became a bit of a joke. Why? Because no one wanted to scan them. It was simply too cumbersome, and so they faded away. It’s fascinating to see whether the combination of strong consumer motivation, coupled with ease of access and perceived value of offer will help Amazon’s program gain traction.

Originally invented by DENSO Corp., a subsidy of Toyota, in 1994 QR Codes became a worldwide accepted way of communicating. They gained acceptance and popularity with marketers across many countries as a way to provide an intriguing call to action and bring the customer or prospect to the next stage of the sales process. Then, they started fading from the landscape as marketers realized they aren’t being scanned.

How QR Codes work:

Download a QR scanning application for your phone.
When you see a QR code use the phone’s camera and the application to read the code.
The application automatically opens the link, video or image.

Some popular QR scanning apps include RedLaser, i-nigma, NeoReader and Grip’d. There are applications available for most smart phones.

It’s easy to see how the ability to scan a code and go directly to a website could be useful. Real Estate agents can use the code on a sign outside of a house, which when scanned, leads to a website with more information about the property. Buses can have a QR code on the side that shares information about upcoming events in town. T-shirts can be printed with QR codes that lead to a Facebook page. Removable tattoos with the QR code on them can lead to a Paypal donation site for charitable organizations. The creative usage and ideas are limited only by imagination. The downside of QR codes (being ignored by consumers), coupled with an inability to protect a consumer by an altered code that may take the consumer to a very different experience than they expected must be addressed if QR codes are going to make a resurgence as a general marketing tool.

Want to try creating a QR Code? There are many QR code generating tools on the market. The QR reader is universal, so it doesn’t matter who generates the code.

Would you use a QR code? What information would you offer that would be compelling enough to have a consumer take action to scan your code? Or, do you think QR codes should be relegated to specific apps, like the Amazon use case?

April 23, 2016 By Jody Raines 1 Comment

Social Media Tips: How Much Time Should I Spend on Social Media?

Clients who have accepted the fact that Twitter and Facebook and Linkedin are great for business, have asked me how much time they should devote to social media marketing. It’s a valid question, and one that has more than one answer.

It depends on what your goals are and what you hope to achieve. Keep in mind that Google has admitted that social media clout is one of the ingredients in their search engine ranking formula, and having your message tweeted by others can briefly have your website listed as number one on Google.

The Internet is a dynamic environment and the old days of optimizing a website and then leaving it for a year just don’t work any longer. We no longer can say the Internet is changing daily or even hourly – the content is changing every second as more and more people add to the information that is available online.

If you are not adding your business or brand information to the mix, then it’s tantamount to everyone taking a step forward, and you are standing in the same place. Even though you didn’t move, you wound up behind everyone else!

So, the first step to determining how much time you should spend on social media marketing is to determine what your goals should be. What do you hope to achieve using social media? Are you using social media as a broadcast device? If so, I can already tell you, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend, you are using it wrong!

One of the things I look at when I evaluate how my client is using social media marketing – and this is a great way to determine whether that so-called “expert” really knows what he or she is doing – is to see if there is a broadcast mentality to what they are sharing, or whether there is true engagement. I have seen these ‘experts’ with the same message sent multiple times. That’s enough to recognize that they obviously do not understand how to use social media and therefore, I wouldn’t waste any money or time investing in having them help set up a campaign.

Automated programs also are a waste of time. That’s the same as calling and hoping to get a live person, and then become frustrated with not being able to reach a person. They can actually cause more harm than good in a social media program, and any ‘expert’ who is advocating automating should be burned at the stake!

So, how do you manage your social media and how much time should you invest?

Just as organic optimization takes time, so does your social media program. If done correctly, it will stand the test of time. Just like “black hat” SEO techniques can have a short upsurge then have dire consequences, so can these ‘quick win’ social media plans.

So, with that being said, here is my recipe for a general social media program:

1. Post a blog at least once a week. Twice a week if possible.

2. Link your blog to your Facebook business page and Twitter and Linkedin profiles.

3. On a daily basis, check into Twitter and send out Tweets for fifteen minutes. You can break that into three five minute intervals during the day. You’d be surprised how much useful information you can obtain in those five minutes.

4. Post a question or observation on Facebook on a daily basis. Ask for input or feedback on a topical issue. Encourage interaction. This may take another ten minutes.

5. Daily, review your Linkedin messages and respond. This may take another 5 minutes.

So, all told, excluding the time you took to write your blog, your entire social media program may take thirty minutes a day. Of course you can spend more time if you’d like.

There are tools that can make monitoring your social media much easier, and we will address these tools in a future post.

How much time do you take for your social media program? Where do you focus your social media efforts? Have you seen an increase in sales based upon your social media efforts?

April 21, 2016 By Jody Raines 1 Comment

10 Tips For Choosing The Best Domain Name For Your Website

Social Media Marketing is a great tool for optimizing your web presence. It’s all about getting discovered.

Whats in a name?

With so many new startup companies in need of a website, I am often asked what makes a good domain name. There is no right or wrong answer, however there are some considerations that help make a good decision when selecting the URL.

The trials and tribulations of choosing a domain name.

One of the first tasks to determine what your domain name should be is to name the company. Sometimes this helps select the domain name. Sometimes it just creates another variable that should be considered.

How important is the domain name for SEO?

It’s very important and affects brand, memorability as well as impact the website’s ability to soar quickly in the search engines.

10 Tips (Considerations) For Choosing The Domain Name:

1. Use keywords for search engine optimization

It’s a great exercise to do keyword research before picking a domain. Keyword research is more than just making a list of words you ‘think’ customers may use… it’s an exercise that should be done with a keyword tool. One free tool that’s great is Googles keyword tool, and another is the Google wonder wheel. Both of these suggest alternatives, and the Google keyword tool also gives an idea how many monthly searches are performed for each word or phrase.

2. Make it easy

Don’t be too clever or over-think your domain name. If it’s easy to be confused you can bet your customers will be. Spell things correctly.

3. Dot com first choice

Although there are many other options, .com is still the number one choice for a domain. If the .com is not available, second choice is .net. You may want to also buy additional domains to protect your name, such as .info, .co, .me, .us, .biz. Remember that com is typically for a commercial entity, and .org is typically for an organization.

4. Consider the alphabet

If you start your company name or your domain with a ‘Z’, don’t expect to come up first in an alphabetical listing. If you want to come up first, you may want to start with a number, which will come up before any of the alphabet. Of course, it’s not asa easy for customers to understand. An example of considering the alphabet is AAA. or creating a domain such as 1-A.com.

5. Avoid Copyright

Especially when it comes to slogans or using a phrase or name that may already be copyrighted, it’s best to avoid using one of these for a domain name.

6. Avoid number for words, slang

It may seem cool or cute to use a letter instead of a word, but it gets lost in translation when sharing your domain name with someone. If you insist on using ‘2’ instead of ‘to’ and ‘4’ instead of ‘for’ you may want to buy the domain with the number spelled out and 301 it to your domain.

7. Identifies what you do

Don’t try to hide what you do with a clever name. The easier it is for a customer to identify that you can serve his or her needs, the better your Internet investment will be. Coming up with a cool name for your company, like (www.sunsweptgroup.com) aka SunSwept Group, does not help customers to find you.

8. Pros and cons of hyphens

Hyphens are a great way to get a domain name that has already been taken without the hyphens, and the irony is that it does help search engines figure out what the words are in your domain. The con is that it’s difficult to convey that you have hyphens in your domain name. The pro is SEO. If you can buy both the hyphenated as well as the non-hyphenated name, that’s your best option.

9. Singular or plural

Again, since domain names are relatively inexpensive, I’d suggest buying both the singular as well as the plural version of your domain, just in case someone types it into the search engines incorrectly. For the small investment, it’s a simple solution. You can direct the less desired name to the more desired url so they both ‘get you there’!

10. Branding, memorable, unique

Whatever you decide to use for your domain name, it has to be something that you are proud of and that you feel will represent your company and brand the way you want it to be perceived. Names that sounds like everyone else tend to fade into the background. The old days of acronyms and using letters just doesn’t seem to work as well in today’s environment of search engine optimization and being found.

Whether you elect to use your company name or be creative and use a unique spelling, it’s important to do so understanding the pros and cons, and making an educated decision.

What were some of the concerns you had when creating your domain? If you ignored the advice above, what was your rationale? Please share your thoughts and comments.

WebMarCom is an Internet strategy and Web Marketing Communications Agency based in South Jersey and Philadelphia.