Strategies For Marketing On The Social Web

No one can deny the fact that communication with customers is of the utmost importance to every internet marketer. Blogging has opened up doors to attain effective communication with customers. The social media emerges as the latest and most promising method to fulfill this aim. Marketing on the social web paves the way to new marketing possibilities as its strategies reach out into new forms and media.

The marketing mindset of today is essentially focussed on the building of relationships through effective dialogue. The next vital element will be virality for the social web marketing campaign. Virality must be attributed to good content about good products and services that will set the viral effect into motion. To achieve best results, marketing strategies must include complete integration of marketer and business into the relevant online community.

(1) Gain more understanding

Before embarking the path of marketing on the social web, it is imperative to do some research about the social media and the opportunities that are available on the social web. There are indeed many online communities that offer interactive communication. They provide the best ground for the development of relationships. A little bit of research will go a long way. Find out what the communities are offering in terms of content. What topics are they frequently talking about ? Are these communities large in size? Listen attentively to such conversations that may originate from customers, bloggers and even analysts. Important information thus derived may be of great help to formulating your strategies for marketing on the social web.

(2) Invitation to join your community

Openly invite others to join your community. This will pave the way for others with similar interests to communicate with you, and share with you their opinions about your product or service, or even offer good ideas to take your business up another level. In the process of interaction, better relationships are being fostered. Suffice to say, in order to shape the community that you intend to have, it is imperative to locate the right target audience. All of your efforts will be directed strictly to this target audience. You will be able to provide value when you are focused. Work in line with your marketing plan to get content that will support your strategies, and subsequently build up momentum to engage your customers.

(3) Decide on your appropriate platform

Having laid down the marketing goals and having drawn up the appropriate marketing plans , the next vital decision is to decide the best platform that will propel your marketing on the social web. Conduit strategies include social network, blogs, reputation aggregators and e-community. Each of these platforms is a specialist in its own right. Each provides various opportunities to different marketing goals. You should have ready your answers to questions on your target audience and marketing objectives. Next it would be wise to check out more about the characteristics of the audience as well its level of interactivity. This will provide the necessary information to help you provide the right content and add more value to your community.

(4) Good content

Getting readers back to your site more regularly can only be achieved by writing good content. Content helps to engage your readers. If content is good and relevant, readers cannot wait to return for more. For marketing on the social web to be successful, readers must be satisfied and feel at home with your content. The content must connect these readers convincingly. Readers will in return contribute to the conversation through feedback and comments. Always pay attention to what they have to say. Good content will ultimately lead to strong interaction and further building of relationships. Make customers feel worthwhile staying in your community. Do not cause negative repercussions by making the mistake of asking your customers about everything too frequently.

(5) Keep track of progress

Progress for your campaign must be kept. This can be done by determining the appropriate metrics that will help you track the movement. It is important to ascertain what is the actual direction that your community is going. This is vital to your future plans in terms of providing more value and giving them better experience in your community. Keeping track of progress will help you revamp your strategies if necessary. Your community initiatives should be implemented in alignment with your marketing objectives, which may include the improvement of customer and channel relationships, building brand awareness and market share, and the financial improvement of your return on investment.

(6) Actively promote

Promotion is integral to marketing campaigns. It applies to marketing on the social web too. There are many communities on the web. Participation in forums, writing your comments on other blogs and involvement in guest blogging are helpful ways by which promotion can be effected. MySpace , YouTube and Facebook are all excellent social networks which often open more opportunities for interaction and viral marketing effects. Sites such as LinkedIn and Squidoo are worthy considerations not to be brushed aside. LinkedIn provides opportunities for professional networking. Squidoo accepts all topics that will be viewed through lenses. Do not forget to insert your URL in all forms of media both traditional and digital. This will definitely increase your visibility. Multimedia outreach certainly works wonders.

(7) Optimize your site

Needless to say, improving your site through optimization will make it more friendly to your community and to search engines. Your customers will be interested to make the return trip when they find your site easy to navigate, contains great content, and providing them with the best possible experience. It is indeed wise to pay attention to what your site visitors have to say and respond to them accordingly. Constantly perform reality checks on your site; look out for new innovations to surge ahead of your competition. Add new features and new tools to enhance the appeal of your site. Visitors will acknowledge that your site is fresh and fun to visit.

Proper organization is required. The presence of an attractive environment and community will serve the dual purpose of inviting customers to spend some time with you and to close sales. The creation of comfortable spaces specially for your customers where they will feel at home will surely bring them back for more. Ultimately, there can only be success for your marketing on the social web campaign.

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Successful Women In Business Know What Marketing Strategies Work to Increase Sales

How will you get your message out to prospects as well as current clients so that you have Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) is a big concern for any woman in business. Given that most women in business have limited marketing budgets, each dollar must deliver as much bang for the buck and truly hit the target.

First, the most effective marketing strategy is Word of Mouth (WOM). This strategy creates a buzz because people are sharing their positive experience with other individuals. And who is someone more likely to trust, a friend or a Madison Avenue type?

Contrary to many women in business, another effective marketing strategy is direct mail. If you have a targeted list based upon your strategic plan, you may realize anywhere from a 25% to 75% response rate to your direct mail campaign. There are different types of direct mail from the oversize color postcards to a series of articles that have value for the recipient.

One of the most overlooked marketing strategies is to simply just ask for a referral. Research suggests that 80% of all new business comes from referral. Many business owners fail to ask existing clients or disqualified prospects for a referral. Again, people listen to those that they trust rather than complete strangers.

Other effective marketing strategies include:

• Blending the Internet through auto responders
• Personal phone calls
• Lumpy mail (mail that has something in it)
• Internet article writing
• Writing a book
• Speaking at national, state and regional events

Given that people need to be touched over 30 times for them to have TOMA regarding your business, your marketing plan should have several marketing strategies and then tactics (actions) to execute those strategies.

Remember, if you have an effective marketing strategy, then continue to execute that strategy. Do not stop doing something that is working. This is a mistake made by many women in business because they listen to someone else or try something new.

Effective marketing strategies should delivery a high number of leads and turn those leads into actual converted sales. You, as the woman business owner or woman executive, must take the time to determine what marketing strategies are delivering the most conversions and at the lowest cost. By taking this action, will eliminate this issue to allow you to focus on those other issues keeping you from your goal to increase sales.

Are you a business woman facing other issues? Maybe this FREE e book Up, Up and Away in 2008 may help you overcome some of those very issues. Learn more at http://www.processspecialist.com/business-women.htm

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Breakthrough Article Marketing - Announcing 5 Popular Secrets to Advance with Article Marketing

Everybody would like to advance in article marketing so they can maximize the benefits that this tool can offer. If you are one of them, these 5 popular secrets can help you realize your goal:

1. Bank on your content. The best way to increase the chances of your articles being read and widely republished is by offering high-quality content to your readers. Your articles must be content-rich, well-written, keyword-rich, short, scannable, and highly relevant to the needs of your target market. When you are able to incorporate all these elements on each of your articles, you can be assured that they will become instant hits online.

2. Make your titles attention-grabbing. The online competition starts when online users searched for your keywords and they are presented with numerous articles on search engine result page. To give your articles an edge and increase their open rate, use titles that can stir the right kind of attention online. They must be striking, interesting, and compelling. So, instead of using "Article Marketing Tips", you can use "10 Fresh Secrets to Excel with Article Marketing"

3. Carefully choose your topics. If you are trying to build quality traffic to your website, you should write about topics that are highly related to your business, products, and target niche. That means, if you are selling diet pills, stick with topics about weight loss, weight gain, and obesity.

4. Use numbers. People are proven to respond better with numbers as they communicate precise information. Use graphs, statistics, etc. when appropriate.

5. Widely distribute your articles. To generate more inbound links for your website, don't' be contented with article submission sites and post your articles on forums, social networking sites, blogs, or on your website.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Article Marketing - Is Everyone a Candidate for Your Opportunity? You Have Missed the Point

Have you ever stopped and really thought about who your readers are? The more directly you write to the person who is reading your article, the more impact what you write is going to have on her. Let's assume for a moment, that you have thought about whom she is, have you thought about what is most important to her?

I see it again and again, article after article turns into a three to five hundred word ad on your topic of choice. So, who are you writing this article for again? There is one word that you should be thinking about every time you write an article. That word is, *PREsell.* If you don't know what that is, then you will find this information invaluable.

One of the most important considerations for every human being on earth before they buy something from another person is can they trust that person. Learning to establish that trust can be the difference between your voice blending into the noise and chatter of daily life, or you being a trusted advisor in your area of expertise. Understanding this is to understand PREsell.

When writing articles, PREselling is when you give something of value to a person before you try to sell them anything. Usually, what you give them is information on a topic that they are interested in. As an expert author, you share with them your value as a resource on a topic. You give them information that they either did not know, or that makes it clear to them that what you do know is beyond a conversational understanding, you have knowledge and expertise that they are looking for.

Why would you do this? You do this not to provide all the answers to their questions, but to help them get some of the answers that they are looking for, and to provide them a resource for getting fuller, more in-depth information. This is a win win. They are getting a chance to test drive your information and see if it meets their particular needs and interests, and you have a free platform (article directories) in which to show your expertise and build your credibility as well as find new prospects.

Let's say you are going to walk buy 100 people that are all trying to sell you something. As you walk buy each person they have 3 seconds to get your attention. So they say things like, look at me, buy from me, I have what you've been looking for, this one will make you sexy. Now they say these things in high voices, low voices, funny voices, and sad voices. The more of them you walk by, the more they all sound the same.

Now, when you walk by me I ask a question, *Did you know that an understanding of key words can be the foundation for all successful internet marketing?* Ask yourself, if you are interested in Internet marketing, who are you going to stop and talk to? Your article gives you a chance to put a specific message out there so that you find the people looking for the information, and just as importantly, they find you.

What if Dan Iverson could show you how to write about any topic on earth and make money? He'll teach you how to better understand human nature as it relates to e-commerce; how people, from their perspective, come to make a purchase on the Internet. I am talking about learning how you can pick a topic of interest, write about it, and with the right tools and a little research find connections between your readers and real products and services, of which you can become an affiliate and make money. Here is the best part. I will teach you all of this absolutely free. That's right, click on this link and you'll get the full Affiliate Masters Course Free. This is no joke, I promise once you start to read this course, you will see and learn the logical system of affiliate and information marketing. It will open your eyes to the greatest and most versatile opportunity in known history: the Internet. Even if you have a website, you can use these techniques. http://aggressiveinternetmarketing.net/free-tool.html

The Affiliate Marketing Mindset

You have heard all about affiliate marketing in the past - how affiliate marketers earned their first million, how they have purchased a better car, a new house, blah, blah, blah. And because they won you over their success stories, you tried the stuff yourself. But instead of earning millions of dollars, replacing your badly beaten car, and moving to an entirely new residence, you have lost thousands of dollars worth of investment, burned too many precious hours, and wasted worthwhile effort.

Why are some affiliate marketers successful and you are not? Are they just bluffing when they said they got rich being an affiliate marketer? Probably not, maybe yes. But then again, the possibility of earning money out of affiliate marketing is real. You can really earn so much out of it if only you know how to do it right.

However, there are affiliate marketers who are a master in search engine optimization. Others can build back links faster than a blink of an eye. There are also a few who have the flair to amass massive traffic in just a matter of hours. With these prized talents, why do these people still fail?

Well, they may have the right talents. But they lack one crucial thing when it comes to affiliate marketing - mindset. Having the right mindset is very important if you want to succeed in affiliate marketing. Mindset focuses you on the goal. It is what keeps you on track as you build your affiliate marketing empire. It is the very thing that could motivate you to earn your millions, get your new car, and move to your new house. More often than not, mindset is all you need to thrive.

To have the right mindset day in and day out, you have to constantly check your goals, both short term and long term, and see how you're fairing. Reward yourself for every small victory. Double your efforts if you fail on something. You should also start making everything around you a reminder of your goals. Your office, your computer, and your furniture - everything you see, use, and feel should motivate you to work harder, do better, and come out stronger in all the affiliate marketing efforts that you do.

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One is the Loneliest Keyword Number

suppose you are selling leather date book organizers and you target the word "organizers." There is no way for a searcher to determine if your site has information of interest to someone looking for a "leather organizer" for important papers, a "closet organizer" for a neater home, or a "wedding organizer" to orchestrate that big event. In this case, it is essential that you add a second word to clarify the meaning of "organizer" as it would apply to your site.

Another problem with single word searches is their attainability. Even if a single keyword is what you really want, you may not be able to attain a search engine ranking on it. While it would be nice to be positioned well on a single extremely broad keyword, you might better use your time to pair the keyword with something more specific. More specific keywords have the added advantage of ensuring that your prospects are more qualified. You do not want to disappoint searchers who visit your site in the search of a wedding organizer.

Another example: A search on "software" at almost any search engine will return over a billion documents. The sites at the top of the list are there because of an array of factors, some of which are beyond your control, such as Google's PageRank algorithm that uses link popularity in its rating. It's highly unlikely that your smaller software company could displace Microsoft or another software giant for a first place ranking. Their sites are too popular and have too many links to them to be ousted by a smaller, less well-know software firm. Instead of fighting a losing batter, you should search for a combination term that clearly describes your site and yet returns few enough sites to give you a fighting chance at getting a top ranking.

The bottom line: Do not waste your time fighting for a hard-to-get keyword, unless you are a major player with a powerful brand that dominates your industry. Some keywords will be highly competitive, and you may have to work hard to achieve a top 10 slot. If you find that after all your hard work, you still can not make it into that top 10, just keep working on your other keywords. There are so many other keywords and combinations where your site can achieve a top 10 ranking that you will find that it's not very difficult at all to develop strong traffic from those rankings.

Identify a niche or pocket of keywords that clearly describe your work and that few others are targeting. Then, go after them! Remember, successful SEO requires persistence and perseverance.

Pamela Upshur is the owner of Upshur Creative.

Upshur Creative combines fresh, contemporary, fully functional turnkey websites with the best PHP scripts and databases to create the largest and most comprehensive turnkey collection for entrepreneurs.

Visit her site at: Turnkey Home Based Business.

The Benefits of Advertising Your Business Online

Online Advertisement

The amount of time people spend on the internet to gather information has increased enormously which has resulted to generate a new market for online advertising.

Targeted Ads

When a company is looking for opportunities to advertise in a specific market, the online advertising offers some targeting methods which insure that the visitors who see the ads are the ones most likely to be your customers. Online Programs like Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Ad center, match up advertisers regularly with targeted contents in comparison with the most expensive strategy of advertising in newspapers.

Tracking Conversions

Online Advertising can track the performance of the ads such as number of impressions an ad receives, the number of visits their business web site gets from particular ads, enabling the advertiser to see the kind of conversion that happens from online advertisement.

Advertising Cost

The advertisers can fix their adverting cost and in case of limited budgets, the online advertising can reach much more audience than the other methods of advertising. Bidding for advertisements is possible in the online programs such as Google, Yahoo which means that the minimum and maximum cost can be fixed and the advertisement cost is based on the number of clicks.

Cheaper Ads

Since the nature of online advertising is more targeted, the effectiveness of the ads can be determined, conversion rates can be monitored which results in cheaper ads.

Wider Target

The internet spreads over the globe, the target market of your website around the world can all be targeted at once, which offers a wider geographical area. This should ensure that there are more people searching globally for you products/services.

Vijayakumar Palaniappan is a Marketing Manager at Samran Technologies. He can be contacted on 0207 043 0870 or emailed at vijayakumar.palaniappan@samrantech.com

http://webdesign.samrantech.com/