Jody Raines

By Leave a Comment

3 Key Tips For Internet Branding

Online branding agency, Jody RainesBranding 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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?

By 1 Comment

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

Clients who have accepted the fact that Twitter and Facebook andsocial media marketing, how much time for social media 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.

Click me

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?

By 1 Comment

10 Tips For Choosing The Best Domain Name For Your Website

Selecting a domain name

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.

FREE Website analysisWhether 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.

By Leave a Comment

Social Media Tips: Trust and Transparency

Social media trust, jody raines Trust. What does it take to create trust, and how can trust be taken away?

And for that matter, what is social media trust?  And how does social media transparency help or hinder building trust and engagement in social media?

You may have heard the term “transparency” used in relation to business branding or identity marketing, but what does the concept of transparent marketing mean, and how can you be sure to establish trust with your clients, customers and prospects?

When you’ve lost trust, you can bet you’ve lost business.

Recently I’ve been receiving a series of emails, on a almost daily basis from my Internet service provider, that imply that my computer and network have been compromised. At first, I disregarded this as a sales attempt… After all, I am running hordes of security on my network, and the op sys I am using is touted as being fairly stable and resistant to virus infiltration.

But as I started to think about it, I realized that if this was a sales attempt, it is preying on a vulnerable market. So many people have computers today who did not grow up with them like Generation C is… To this older an newly connected generation, computers are still something of a mystery!   Case in point, I recently got one of the new ipads for my mother who is 87. She absolutely loves the ipad interface and marvels at what the device can do,…. She’s unusual for her generation, howeve she is not as aware of hacker attacks or viruses as someone who is Generation C or even Gen Y.

So, the email about viruses made me angry.

I am sure this was not the result the company that sent it to me had hoped for.  They more likely were anticipating that I’d be thankful for the heads up.  But recently, I’ve had a malevolent person who has been stalking me, and in addition to my system potentially being hacked, I am now concerned that this individual may may have done something to my system when he had access to it.

But was my service provider preying on my insecurity?  For a megalith company, that I respect, and who I have as a service provider to stoop to sending me false allegations that my Mac may have a bot or key logger really miffed me.

Question is – do I trust that the service provider is truly attempting to be helpful, or do i disregard and figure it’s an attempt to add additional service fees to my monthly invoice?

Trust.  If I trusted the service provider, there would be no question. Like the Facebook trust experience, where multiple changes have disrupted or opened up our privacy settings, the Internet and social media marketing has elevated the attempts on the part of undesirable or poorly informed suppliers, especially those who are adept at positioning themselves as “experts”. They prey on our fears and use double talk to obfuscate their meaning, The plethora of these types has given rise to our questioning whether these are actually attempts to help versus attempts to sell. As it turns out, I did decide to have this third party evaluate what is going on with my systems…. They are immersed in my Mac as we speak and they’ve started to unravel things.

How much simpler things would have been for them, had they established a level of trust first. Then there would be no question that the first sign of trouble was real. As it was, this sale took 4 phone calls to 7 individuals including their security division before I “trusted” what they were telling me, that’s 7 people who were tied up taking to a prospect when really, and ideally, this should no have had to escalate to that level. If there is a lesson, it is to treat your brand and your customers with value, be truthful, and don’t think that a cleverly veiled sales approach will not be recognized as such by your prospects.

Certainly it’s important to aim at giving value, but it’s equally important to refrain from disguising your true intent. In this instance, had the service provider simply shared that there is a paid version and an unpaid version of support in a clear manner, I may have jumped inboard sooner. Have you had experiences where you were not sure whether the offer was genuine or a sales attempt? Do you have call to action offers that may cross the line, or have you experience one on a site you’ve visited?

By Leave a Comment

3 Social Media Mistakes To Kill Your LinkedIn Credibility

Jody Raines, social media marketingSocial Media can make you rich!  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 Linked In.  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.

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’.

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?

By

Social Media, Robin Williams, The English Language And Holidays

Social Media has a way of making you feel sad sometimes.   The posts of beautiful holidays and warm family celebrations may be more for the benefit of others than what’s true.   Consider the perceptions that we have from what we read or hear, and compare that to the reality… sometimes the way things are presented are far different than what is actually happening.

For example, listening to the news can sometimes be difficult – not only due to the content, but also due to the spin that the commentators put to the stories.   This summer, during a two day period, Lauren Bacall passed away.  The day she died, it was also reported that Robin Williams died the day before, by suicide.  The announcer who said “Robin Williams passed away” made me stop in my tracks.   Not because of his death, but because of the way they utilized the English language.   Robin Williams did not “pass away”, but he ended his life violently – apparently asphyxiating himself with a belt and a closet door.

I appreciate that many are and were surprised that the man we all thought of as a genius and incredible comic was anything but happy.  He brought laughter to millions, yet his life was more a tragedy with depression and addiction.  How sad. It’s utterly heartbreaking.

Robin Williams Pass away

Did Robin Williams pass away

But to say he “passed away” implies a quiet passing… a traveling from this life to the next.  I daresay that when someone takes their own life, it’s not a “passing”, its more a termination, an ending, a taking of the life that can never have another “act” to follow.  It’s not a “passing”.

One of my pet peeves recently is the abuse of language to share information.  I’m not sure whether this is because as I’ve gotten older, I am more cognizant of the power of words, or whether there is an inadequacy in our school systems with regard to teaching English?    Case in point, the other day I was chatting with a friend who told me that he does not like a politician because he finds his “self defecating” humor to be offensive.  Well, yes, I guess it would be.  Any politician who poops himself for a joke would be offensive.  But perhaps he meant “self deprecating”?

Another friend was sure that “irregardless” of something, he was going to do something.  I cringed.   I am sure he did not realize that  the word he meant to us is “regardless”.  Regardless means without regard.  When you add the “ir’ in front, it negates the word, so irregardless means “not without regard”.  Huh?

Ok, and then there is the person who becomes “orientated” to a new job.   Really.   Define that for me?   I think he means he was oriented.  To orientate means to turn to the East, as if in prayer… Does this then mean that every person in the new job must learn where the East is?

And just yesterday a senior staff member suggested that we “home in on our skills”.   I suspect it was honing that was required, but I could be wrong.  Perhaps we should get closer to them, as in homing in?

When I see or hear advertising copy that’s poorly written, I have the same response.   How does copy get approved when it does not make sense?

For example, a recently launched campaign by Ryder focuses on the “ER”.  What?  Who put the “ER” in Ryder?   Seriously…  and what the heck is that supposed to mean?

do-not-take-life-too-seriously-you-will-never-get-70

Another campaign makes it seem cool to have bad manners.  A young girl struts over to a lunch table at school and puts her feet up on the table wearing her brand new sneakers.  And instead of telling her what a snot she is and to get her feet off the table (did she grow up in a barn?!?) the two older kids nod knowingly.  Huh?   If anything, that’s a great reason NOT to buy anything from this store! The store, Famous Footwear thinks their add is about confidence?  Nope.  It’s about bad manners!

Bad manners can also be examplified by a football team that makes a political gesture while entering the field.   Just because someone can throw a football does not make that person any more of a role model or a patron of integrity than anone else.  Just look at Ray Rice – the player who clocked his fiance and left her laying, unconscious in an elevator.   More than likely some team will pick him up to play for them, despite the fact that the man is an abuser.   Consider also the case of Michael Vic… the man who sponsored dog fights and then who winds up playing football again.  Will we, as a nation, ever realize that to continue to sponsor and condone these despicable actors results in a generation that thinks this is normal… That suicide and “slipping away” may be the same act?

In any case, bad grammar, and bad marketing aside, it truly is a tragedy that a person so talented and clever as Robin Williams felt that there was no other option available to him other than to take his own life.  Thankfully, this brings much needed attention to the issue of depression and mental illness.  Hopefully we can help others before they take that last, final step.

Truly this was not a ‘passing’, it was a ‘taking’.   Rest in the peace that you could not find while living, Robin Williams.

The holidays are difficult times for those who find themselves without family or friends.   Reach out to others and invite them to spend the holidays with you, especially if you know they may be alone.

If you or someone  you know may have thoughts of hurting themself,  call a depression hotline. If you are not having suicidal thoughts, you may wonder if how you feel warrants a crisis call. It doesn’t hurt to call, and it doesn’t cost anything, so pick up the phone and make the call. No one will judge you, and you won’t feel like you are wasting anyone’s time with your problems. Many of the counselors are volunteers, so they do this because they enjoy helping others, not because they are being paid to do it.

Resources for Depression:

  • http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
  • National hotline — 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness — (800) 950-NAMI (6264)

Suicide

  • Suicide Hotline  1-800-SUICIDE
  • National Suicide Prevention Helpline  1-800-273-TALK
  • National Adolescent Suicide Hotline  1-800-621-4000

Depression

  • Postpartum Depression  1-800-PPD-MOMS
  • Veterans  1-877-VET2VET

All Types of Crisis (Compiled from multiple sources)

  • United Way Helpline  1-800-233-HELP
  • Youth America Hotline  1-877-YOUTHLINE (1-877-968-8454)
  • Covenant House Nine-Line (Teens)  1-800-999-9999
  • The Trevor Helpline (For homosexuality questions or problems)  1-800-850-8078
  • Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696
  • Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433
    LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255
    Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
    Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743
    Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438
    Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673
    Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272
    Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000
    Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253
  • The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (suicidepreventionlifeline.org) is a 24-hour, toll-free, confidential suicide prevention hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.[10][11]
  •  The Trevor Project (thetrevorproject.org) is a nationwide organization that provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.[12
  • Boys Town: This is an email option for youths and their parents. Turnaround time is usually 24-48 hours.
  • Crisis Chat: Talk about stress and other problems anonymously and get non-judgmental support.
  • IMAlive: Speak with a volunteer online without having to wait for an emailed reply.

By Leave a Comment

Top 5 Keyword Phrases For Best Practice Marketing Campaign Conversion

best practices keywordsSearch Engine Optimization gets traffic to your website.  Traffic is great, but it’s the conversions that become leads that are important. Marketing that converts is the best kind of marketing because you can prove a cause and effect and therefore determine a return on the marketing investment.

How do you know what the best marketing keyword phrases are, and how do you measure whether they are effective for your customer.  Believe it or not, sometimes “free” is a turnoff.  Using testing methods, you can create two seperate campaigns and test whether the word “free” or the word “complimentary” are more effective for your product.  I’ve had situations where customers will refuse something that is ‘free’ because they did not perceive the word ‘free’ to be credible.  Be sure that whatever keyword, phrase or positioning statement you are testing is believable and realistic for your brand.

Another client of mine was working on a campaign that said they were the ‘best’ at something that they had never offered.  This was a launch campaign.  Could they be the best?  It’s possible, but not probable and certainly not credible if they’ve never offered a service or product like that before.  So, before accepting that a word is terrific, consider your circumstance, your customer and your message, then evaluate whether the word or phrase is believeable.  Keep in mind that if you are promoting a sale, it should truly be a sale.  Several department stores got into hot water recently because they raised their prices, then promoted a percentage off savings.  When the “sale” was picked up by the media, it resulted in some very bad publicity for the retailers.  Especially because the marketplace is so competitive, losing credibility will result in lost revenue.  To the extent that the expose becomes viral, the resulting damage to reputation can become catastrophic.

Marketing ROI

The first key to creating a strong case for a specific keyword or keyword phrase is to understand what your marketing goals and objectives are, and establish a baseline, and lift goals.  If your CEO ever asks what the return is on his marketing investment, you should be prepared with each campaign – what the goals were, what the budget was, what the lift in sales or views or whatever the metric was and then you can calculate what the return in on the investment (ROI) would be for that effort.

As you track your marketing campaigns you will start to discover that there are certain ‘magic’ keywords that  evoke higher response rates than others.   If you do A/B testing, you can determine what words work and resonsate with your audience. The ability to continuously change, improve, enhance and evolve your content in order  to determine what works best is one of the coolest features of Inbound Marketing.  It’s similar to the way a supermarket uses a planogram to layout the store and test products at the end of an aisle.  You have the ability to manipulate words, color, photos and content to continuously improve results.

With multiple view over time, you will clearly see what  words work better than others…and what doesn’t work.  There are obviously best marketing practices and best keywords that drive conversions. Language that is tested and which resonates with your audience can be a key determinant  for inbound leads.  That includes not only quantity, but also quality of inbound leads.

Some of the best offers use what has been referred to as ‘magic phrases’ that generally are more likely to evoke a response than other phrases.  Testing these phrases is a great idea in a dynamic media like a website, social media campaign or email marketing campaign. This list of the top five keyword phrases is borrowed from the Direct Marketing industry, where the cost of printing and mailing postage has forced marketers to take a hard look at what works or what doesn’t work, and prove the return on investment for marketing expenses.

Magic phrases of direct marketing:
Some phrases and keywords will evoke greater response than others.  Here’s a short list of some of the most powerful phrases:

  1. FREE.  Yes, ‘free’ does work best.  Even if used in a way that seems redundant, such as “free gift” versus “gift”, using the word “Free” is a powerful tool for conversions.
  2. NO OBLIGATION.  When coupled with the word “Free”, this makes an offer more reassuring and less scary to jump into.
  3. LIMITED TIME.  Having a deadline for response creates a sense of immediacy.  Without a timed opportunity, the tendency may be to put the offer away to look at it more thoroughly later.  Giving a time ultimatum moves the importance to a more immediate review.
  4. NEW.  This is a great way to have people take another look.  Who doesn’t want to see what the new features are, especially if they liked or purchased before.
  5. ANNOUNCING. Another powerful motivator – people like to know that they are among the first to view something or to be int he know.  Using “announcing” triggers an early response mechanism.

What other words have you noticed that trigger action?  Are there words that you’ve used that you find important motivators?

By Leave a Comment

New Media Marketing: QR Codes – What is A QR Code?

how to QR codeA few years ago one of my clients in the printing industry was very excited about QR or Quick Response codes.  He had read about how they were very popular with marketers in Japan and Europe, and would be quickly catching on in the US.   As a printer, he felt that the QR code would help to revitalize the printing industry and create vast opportunities to those who were first in the marketplace to offer these QR codes.

Since that time, I’ve seen a lot of QR codes being used – some well, some not so well.  The effectiveness for a QR code (to be scanned) is not inherent in the fact that it is a QR code, but whether there is value to the recipient of the information  in scanning the QR code.

QR codes are popping up in more and more places. Recently I saw an article that described how the International Gemological Institute is using QR codes to specify information about the gem.  I also saw articles that described QR codes being used for memorials on tombstones as a way of sharing information about the deceased.

Whether using the code on a billboard, a bus, a postcard or a business card the QR code is a great way to get a lot of information into a little space.

QR code failSome ways I have seen a QR code used incorrectly are humorous.   At a visit to a local restaurant, I recently saw a couple examples of QR codes.  One example was a QR code printed on the side of a straw.   The problem was twofold – first, there was no good way to hold the straw to get a picture of the QR code – you would have to squash the straw (rendering it unusable) and still the code just wouldn’t scan.  The other problem was that the straw was used – I would have to either transport the sticky straw to get the discount, or take the time to rinse it out.   I’m not quite sure what rocket scientist came up with the program, but I sure hope the client did not pay a lot of money for the campaign.

QR codes are definitely becoming more popular and recognized.  They are seen on buildings, rooftops, as a tattoo, and on t-shirts, even as crop circles!  Why use QR codes? When scanned by a smart phone with a QR reader application, the QR code contains more information.  This can be a webpage, a phone number, more product information, sales information, directions or any other information that you want to get into the phone of a potential customer.

Originally invented by DENSO Corp. (a subsidy of Toyota) in 1994, QR codes, have gained quick popularity with marketers.   The public has not been quite as anxious to adopt these codes and one of the main reasons they are ineffective is that they are used without a reason to scan.  Just adding a QR code to a product or advertising campaign does not mean it will be scanned.

Some other places to put a QR code may be in a direct mail campaign.  The QR code supplements a URL that you may share with the reader to get more information.   On name badges, a QR code helps a new connection add your contact info to their address book.    Places that it does not make sense to put a QR code are on a website or in an online campaign.

The most important thing about using QR codes effectively is probably the least understood.  Putting a QR code on an item is fine, but you also need to give a reason for someone to open up that app and scan it.   Without a reason, your QR code is wasted ink.

How  To Use A QR Code:

1.Download a QR scanning application for your phone.

2. When you see a QR code use the phone’s camera and the application to read the code.

3. 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.

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.

How would you use a QR code?  Would it be helpful to have a way to get viewers to your website?

Recent Posts

Let’s Get Social

856.504.6066 Voorhees, NJ 08043