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What Makes Your Facebook Contest Different?

Holding contests and campaigns on social media is more popular than ever, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. Any company can give out free gift cards or electronics, so that really is not enough to hold the attention of social media users anymore. What is taking your contest to the next level? If you are running a contest, you must make sure your contest stands out among the rest. Here’s how:

As we know, consumers are constantly interacting with social media on their mobile phones. This means it is vital to take advantage of location. Urge users to check-in on social media when they are interacting with your company’s physical location. Offer some sort of incentive such as a discount, a charitable donation, a few points in a contest, etc. Getting social media users to check in not only allows you to generate more traffic, but also creates a deeper user interaction (physical and digital).

Do your users have a reason to keep coming back to your page? Include your fans and contest participants in every possible step of the contest. Brands often do this by allowing the fans to vote on a winner, respond to a question, or  answer a poll. Get creative here and choose what seems most relevant to your brand and product.

Although your contest is Facebook based, ask yourself if other social media platforms would enhance your contest. For example, say you are the marketer for a line of gluten-free butter and your Facebook contest asked users to post pictures and recipes of things they made with your butter. In this case, it would make sense to start a Pinterest board, displaying the recipes.  Using more than one social media platform can allow you to reach a larger audience. The key here is to make sure your second social media platform is relevant to your contest.

The general goal of Facebook contests is to allow users to interact with your brand. Anybody can make a Facebook contest, but your goal is to expand that user interaction as far as possible. Think of ways to take your contests to other social media platforms, physical locations, and beyond.

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Use Mobile Marketing To Your Advantage

The traffic on mobile Smartphones is constantly increasing; and there is no reason it will slow down any time soon. It is no secret that today’s consumers are constantly in sync with their mobile phones.  As a marketer, you want to be where your consumers are.

Have you tried to access your company website from your mobile phone? Most websites are not compatible with a smaller screen, and they may be difficult to use. Make sure that your website is optimized for mobile, or establish a mobile friendly application. Do not underestimate what your consumers may be using their smartphones for – it is best to assume your company website falls into that realm. So, make it easy on your consumers.

Reading email is one of the most common activities that take place on a Smartphone. Make sure that any email you send to a client is ultimately designed for a small screen. This means use larger fonts, large images, and concise content. Make sure the subject lines are attention grabbing and do not appear as spam.

Constant access to the Internet means that consumers may be researching your company while they are physically in your store. Embrace this information. Focus on the quality of not only your product, but your customer service as well.

Convenience on the go is what drives mobile marketing. Use this to your advantage to reach your consumers. Evaluate the mobile interaction with your company from your client’s perspective.

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The Importance of Mobile Marketing

It is no secret that today’s consumers are constantly in sync with their mobile phones. The traffic on mobile Smartphones is constantly increasing; and there is no reason it will slow down any time soon.   As a marketer, you want to be where your consumers are.

How does your website look on a mobile phone? Most websites are not compatible with a smaller screen, and they may be difficult to use. Make sure that your website is optimized for mobile, or establish a mobile friendly application. Do not underestimate what your consumers may be using their smartphones for – it is best to assume your company website falls into that realm. So, make it easy on your consumers.

Reading email is one of the most common activities that take place on a Smartphone. Make sure that any email you send to a client is ultimately designed for a small screen. This means use larger fonts, large images, and concise content. Make sure the subject lines are attention grabbing and do not appear as spam.

Constant access to the Internet means that consumers may be researching your company while they are physically in your store. Embrace this information. Focus on the quality of not only your product, but your customer service as well.

Mobile marketing is all about convenience on the go. Use this to your advantage to reach your consumers. Evaluate the mobile interaction with your company from your client’s perspective

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Holidays: The Season For Social Media?

People love the holidays! The chances are your business already has something planned to participate in the cheerful season. Holiday discounts? Holiday office party? Whatever it is, make sure it shows on your social media accounts!

December is already here, that means people are gearing up for the holiday season. This season is a great opportunity to adopt new social media tactics – with a holiday twist. People are already spending time on social media sites, and are getting excited about the holidays.  So why not get people excited about the holidays and involved in your company at the same time?

Give your followers another reason to engage with your company this holiday season.

  1. Start a Facebook Holiday themed promotion. There are several ways to do this. Consider a limited-time-only discount, supporting a charity, or giving a gift back to loyal customers. All of these promotions are ways to add a little something extra to your company’s Facebook effort.
  2. Promote a holiday-themed hashtag on Instagram. Encourage followers to upload holiday pictures using the hashtag, or pictures that are relevant to your brand. Make it a contest and award the contestant with the most “Likes” a holiday gift.  Make it easy for fans to enter the contest by just simply using the hashtag. Once a winner is selected, contact them to claim their prize through their social media account.
  3. Start a New Years countdown, asking users to share their resolutions. Try to think of ways your business could be part of a New Years Resolution.
  4. Host a gift giveaway that takes place between Christmas and New Years…this is sure to keep your fans in the holiday spirit!
  5. Use Twitter to show your holiday enthusiasm and excitement! Be sure to tweet any other contests or giveaways you have started on your other social media accounts!

The holidays are about giving back, so do something different and thoughtful for your fan base – thank them for supporting your business all year.  Even something small, like tweeting out holiday jokes or adorable pictures, can put a smile on a customers face! The holiday season is known for love, happiness, and positive thoughts for the New Year – make sure to be a part of that when it comes to social media.

 

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Drive Customer Loyalty

Your customers are already in the door.  How can you benefit from this?

To drive customer loyalty, you must reward your customers. Foursquare, the leading location based social network, offers a great medium to connect your offline and online audience. Foursquare allows users to check into locations on their mobile phones. Then, users can share that location with friends on other social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook. Your company can benefit from these check-ins. When users’ friends see where they are checking in to eat and shop, they are more likely to follow suit to eat and shop there too!

Your goal on Foursquare should be to connect your customer’s online habits and offline habits. You can do this by offering deals and specials on Foursquare. Use specials to attract new customers, and reward loyal existing ones.  Personalize your rewards to your customer. For example, to reward a first-time customer, award them a free cookie on their first check in. To reward a frequent customer, offer them 10% off their bill every third check in.  Use a combination of different specials to encourage a growing clientele and satisfy returning customers.

You must claim your business’s location! This makes checking-in easy for your customers.  Make sure to claim ownership of your physical location. If you do not see your business listed, you can access Foursquare from your mobile phone and select “Add this place”.  Provide as much relevant information in your profile as possible – this will help inform your current and future customers.

It is likely that your client base is made up of different kinds of customers. The loyal customer, the trying it out customer, even the out-of-town customer. Personalize your specials so that each customer experience is unique!  Your customers are your business. Reward them!

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Reward Your Customers

How do you connect with your customers online?

Rewarding your customers is an essential component of driving customer loyalty. Foursquare, the leading location based social network, offers a great medium to connect your offline and online audience. Foursquare allows users to check into locations on their mobile phones. Then, users can share that location with friends on other social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook. Your company can benefit from these check-ins. When users’ friends see where they are checking in to eat and shop, they are more likely to follow suit to eat and shop there too!

Your goal on Foursquare should be to connect your customer’s online habits and offline habits. You can do this by offering deals and specials on Foursquare. Use specials to attract new customers, and reward loyal existing ones.  Personalize your rewards to your customer. For example, to reward a first-time customer, award them a free cookie on their first check in. To reward a frequent customer, offer them 10% off their bill every third check in.  Use a combination of different specials to encourage a growing clientele and satisfy returning customers.

Make it easy for your customers to check in. You’ve already gotten people in the door, now its time to make sure you capitalize on that. You must claim your business’s location! Make sure to claim ownership of your physical location. If you do not see your business listed, you can access Foursquare from your mobile phone and select “Add this place”.  Provide as much relevant information in your profile as possible – this will help inform your current and future customers.

Switch up the specials you offer and see what seems to appeal to customers most. Get to know your audience by running two specials at a time. This way you can see if your customer base are mostly returning customers or new customers.  Treat your customers well with rewards – they will return the favor!

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LivingSocial Research Shows Online Marketing Helps Restaurants Attract Customers

 

 

 

 

New research from the National Restaurant Association found that restaurants are increasingly using online and email marketing to give customers personalized offers. This electronic use of marketing channels has been proven to complement traditional marketing techniques, resulting in a hugely successful marketing mix.

The daily deal site, LivingSocial funded this research, which evaluated current practices in the marketing world used by restaurant operators and the consumer perceptions of a variety of marketing tools.

According to Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of the National Restaurant Association, James Balda, “Finding the right marketing mix is crucial to success in the restaurant industry. Our new research outlines the challenges and opportunities o both offline and online marketing to help restaurant operators find the ‘sweet spot’ for promotions by identifying what consumers respond to and how various messaging vehicles are perceived.”

Some of the major findings from this research include:

-Restaurants using online marketing tools tend to be viewed as more popular and modern to consumers. In return, restaurant operators feel that websites, TV ads, social media, emails, and daily deals to be very effective in gaining new consumers.

-Restaurant operators and consumers agree that savings provided through customized messages are very important for business.

-95% of restaurant operators find savings offers to be a crucial marketing tool.

-78% of restaurant operators perceive daily deals as an effective way to increase revenue for their restaurants. And 69% of customers claimed that emails from daily deal providers motivate them to check out that featured restaurant from that daily deal.

-40% of restaurant operators claimed they plan to partner with a daily deal provider within the next year.

-87% of consumers would order from or go to a restaurant if given a savings offer.

-Consumers are likely to go to a restaurant if they received personalized marketing messages that referenced previous restaurant patronage, permitted reservations, and identified them by name.

-84% of restaurant operators feel that restaurant-specific marketing emails are an effective way to increase revenue for their restaurant, and 78% of consumers feel that an email from a restaurant would entice them to go to that restaurant.

-Online marketing can boost a restaurant’s brand image and bring in new customers.

With this interesting information, it is clear that the use of LivingSocial and other daily deal sites, or simple email offers, may be a great way for your business to take online marketing to the next level and see an increase in revenue and customers!

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Successful Mobile Marketing With The Right Software

 

 

 

 

In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, mobile marketing is becoming more valuable. Mobile marketing is a great tool for businesses to get in to, however lots of businesses are not using mobile marketing in the most efficient way, just yet. You must go into mobile marketing with strong mobile marketing software so you can see what how it works, and what is working.

Here are some key tasks your mobile marketing software should do.

1. Segment Your Subscriber Base

A very useful way to segment your subscribers is by interests and location. This is especially useful if your company has lots of locations or offers a wide range of products and services.

To effectively segment your lists, use a short code service and make different keywords for each promotion type or location. This engages your customers with the promotion or location they’re interested in, and they will end up automatically segmenting themselves. Then, you can use this information to share location based offers, events and promotions with those consumers.

Additionally, the segmentation of your Facebook opt-ins from your site opt-ins will become more crucial as mobile signups are becoming more relevant and mobile forms are starting to include more marketing platforms. You will be able to give out the same offers to each group so you can then look for differences in conversions, response rates, and long-term customer value based on origin. Over time, your marketing campaigns will become more targeted and you will have greater ROI.

2. Integrate Your Social Media

Social media marketing is a great way to inform leads about your mobile offers/list and carry them further into your business’s growth and success.

Different social media platforms bring in leads with different and unique qualities to them. To figure out which are best, you need mobile marketing software that uses list segmentation along with the proper analytics and tracking tools. Within any business, cross channel integration is becoming increasingly essential. And with digital marking software becoming increasingly intelligent, its performance will improve in near real time. But you must get involved ASAP so you’re business can grow with this technology.

3. Tracking

To help you understand how to create an overall more profitable marketing campaign, use mobile marketing software that will track your data across every marketing channel, including email marketing, social media marketing, blogging platforms, SMS, applications, mobile and others.

It is vital that you are able to see how your mobile marketing efforts are working together with your cross channel marketing efforts. Use the Internet to drive people to your SMS lists. And be sure that you’re not only tracking your results, but are also interpreting those results!

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Successful Mobile Marketing Software

Google Analytics Reports

 

 

 

 

In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, mobile marketing is becoming more valuable. Mobile marketing is a great tool for businesses to get in to, however lots of businesses are not using mobile marketing in the most efficient way, just yet. You must go into mobile marketing with strong mobile marketing software so you can see what how it works, and what is working.

Here are some key tasks your mobile marketing software should do.

1. Segment Your Subscriber Base

A very useful way to segment your subscribers is by interests and location. This is especially useful if your company has lots of locations or offers a wide range of products and services.

To effectively segment your lists, use a short code service and make different keywords for each promotion type or location. This engages your customers with the promotion or location they’re interested in, and they will end up automatically segmenting themselves. Then, you can use this information to share location based offers, events and promotions with those consumers.

Additionally, the segmentation of your Facebook opt-ins from your site opt-ins will become more crucial as mobile signups are becoming more relevant and mobile forms are starting to include more marketing platforms. You will be able to give out the same offers to each group so you can then look for differences in conversions, response rates, and long-term customer value based on origin. Over time, your marketing campaigns will become more targeted and you will have greater ROI.

2. Integrate Your Social Media

Social media marketing is a great way to inform leads about your mobile offers/list and carry them further into your business’s growth and success.

Different social media platforms bring in leads with different and unique qualities to them. To figure out which are best, you need mobile marketing software that uses list segmentation along with the proper analytics and tracking tools. Within any business, cross channel integration is becoming increasingly essential. And with digital marking software becoming increasingly intelligent, its performance will improve in near real time. But you must get involved ASAP so you’re business can grow with this technology.

3. Tracking

To help you understand how to create an overall more profitable marketing campaign, use mobile marketing software that will track your data across every marketing channel, including email marketing, social media marketing, blogging platforms, SMS, applications, mobile and others.

It is vital that you are able to see how your mobile marketing efforts are working together with your cross channel marketing efforts. Use the Internet to drive people to your SMS lists. And be sure that you’re not only tracking your results, but are also interpreting those results!

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7 Steps For A Location-Based Marketing Campaign

 

 

 

 

When the idea to have users on social media sites share their geographic location on their mobile devices popped up back in 2009, location-based engagement became a popular trend. Foursquare became one of the best-known platforms that tackled this marketing idea.

Location-based marketing gives customers incentives to “check-in” to a company’s location so that consumers automatically engage with that business.

Some platforms aside from Foursquare that utilize this technique include Yelp, Gowalla, BrightKite, Facebook, and more. No matter which platform you choose, if you’re considering developing a location-based social media campaign, use these tips to be successful.

1. Measure Your Performance

Right at the beginning of your campaign, come up with a way to measure the campaign’s performance.  State the goals you want your business to reach and identify the appropriate tools to use to measure those goals.

2. Select Your Online Venue

Select a platform, or platforms, that you want to use to create your online presence for your location-based marketing plan. Register and create an account, then “claim” your online venue. This gives you complete ownership of your venue.

3. Use A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

Figure out how to combine data from the location-based marketing systems you use along with the data from your CRM. This way, you will be able to see the social media activities that users are engaging in, along with the user interactions reported into the CRM.

4. Design Your Location Marketing Page

With each account you start for a location-based campaign, you should customize a profile page.  Current and prospective customers will want to check out your profile to get a feel for the personality behind the brand. In addition, this information is indexed in search engine databases, so people will be able to find your company more easily if you’ve filled out a profile page.

5. Adjust Your Marketing Plan

Look back to the goals you wanted to reach with your location-based marketing campaign and decide if there are things you need to change in order to see better results.

6. Adjust Your Budget

Go into location-based marketing strategy with a budget. Examine how your brand is performing with this marketing technique and make any changes to you budget in order to continue to be able to carry out the campaign.

7. Come Up With Incentives

Think of great offers to give to your users that are relevant to your brand. Incentives are what location-based marketing is all about, so you must create unique rewards for your specific target audiences.

It can be hard to start a location-based marketing campaign, but with a strong plan to stick to, location-based marketing can prove to be a huge success for your company!

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