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4 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website

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Most business owners dream of driving relevant traffic to their site. Unfortunately, dreaming about it won’t get your there. You need hard work, consistent effort and high quality content to give yourself a boost.

Let’s take a look at some effective ways for generating high quality, organic search traffic to your website.

Content is king

Search engines are rewarding businesses that are generating high-quality consistent content.

To make your content appealing to different kinds of readers, it would help to vary the format and length of your articles. List blog posts also get more traffic than any other kind of post.

Write articles frequently

The longer you are in business and producing quality content online, the more likely are you to succeed. This will also increase your chances of showing up in search results.

Be sure to post articles on a regular basis so your readers know when to expect new content. Also, add fresh content a few times a week to keep your readers coming back for more.

Work on your headlines

Headlines are the most important parts of your content. When your blog posts are shared via social media, they are typically the first thing readers see. That said, it is important to create a headline that would pique the interest of your target audience. An effective headline would get you more views and shares than usual and will definitely drive traffic to your website.

Be social

It’s not enough to share your content across different social channels; you also need to participate actively in the community. Mind you, social media is actually intended to interact with your followers. So be sure to engage with your readers and respond to their questions and comments. Nothing turns people off faster than using social media merely as an advertising channel.

 

 

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4 Ways to Grow Your Email Marketing List

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While email marketing is an old, unsexy technology, the savviest of entrepreneurs have no intention of giving it up anytime soon. This is because email marketing provides a direct line of communication and has a tendency to turn leads into sales.

Contacts are the lifeblood of any email marketing campaign. That said, growing your mailing list should be a priority.

In this article, we’ll walk you through what you need to do to build a quality email list. Read on and start building a list of people who will want to hear from you.

Make your sign-up forms easy to find

You can use your website to generate more contacts by adding a subscription form where your visitors can sign up. Be sure to place the form at the top of the page to make it easier for people sign up. Survey revealed that sites that place sign up boxes as part of their top banner perform better as compared to those located at the footer area.

Social network

Another way to build your list is by using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Due to the viral nature of Facebook, it pays to add a subscription form on your page. Be sure to include a sign up link to your email list on the “About” section of your page. For an added boost, you can also add it on your personal account and tell your family and friends about it.

Word of mouth

The best marketers for your products or services are the people who are already using them. For subscribers who have been on your list for a very long time, a discount or a small incentive would get them talking. Encourage them to share your list with their family and friends.

Tell subscribers what they’ll get

As a marketer, you need to answer the question most people ask: Why would I subscribe to your email list if I can just follow you on Facebook?

To urge people to subscribe to your newsletters, let them know that you offer subscriber-only content. Also, don’t forget to mention how often they’ll be receiving emails. Setting expectations upfront helps reduce unsubscribe rates.

 

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Habits of Successful Social Media Managers

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The number of tasks a social media manager is expected to do can be quite overwhelming. Not only are they expected to engage with current and new followers, they also update several social media profiles everyday, monitor the effectiveness of their social media campaign and more.

While every social media manager would approach his or her job differently, successful social media managers share a few habits. Focus on these habits to reach new levels of social media success.

Reciprocate

Genuinely strive to help others succeed on social media. This attitude will help you build camaraderie, it will also help you stay on top of the game.

When you like or follow someone, they are more likely to reciprocate the gesture and like or follow you back as well. Alternatively, when someone shares your content, do the same for them.

Work with your team

As much as you would like to handle things on your own, you can’t do it alone. Do yourself a favor and build a team consisting of loyal and trustworthy people.

Collaborate with your team and harness a relationship that encourages partnership. This will help you build a strong social media presence and reach your business goals.

Prioritize

Prioritize your week’s plan based on priority rather than urgency.

Every business needs leads, traffic and sales in order to thrive. While having thousands of twitter followers can be beneficial to your brand, it would be a good idea to start by creating a webpage where you can create leads and connect it with your social media account.

Quick on your feet

A lot of things are happening on social media. Most of the time, it is happening pretty fast. Here, you have to be quick on your feet as you are not always given the luxury to take your time.

Negative comments, for instance, requires some quick, critical thinking. You should act quickly and know how to address the issue in order to avoid any negative repercussions.

Unplug

Some social media managers run ragged in an attempt to keep up with the “always on” medium. That said, you need to give your mind a break from time to time.

This may sound counterintuitive, considering that you don’t want to be inactive on your accounts for too long. However, unplugging at least once a week can help you recharge your social media spirit.

 

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Advantages of Online Video Advertising

BIMS_12.6_14In the hopes of being successful in the world of online marketing, companies and organizations utilize different strategies. Video marketing is one of them.

Today, online videos are considered to be one of the most popular forms of advertising. In fact, a lot of businesses are using online videos as a part of their promotional strategies in order to stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the fast paced trend.

Still not convinced? Here are 4 reasons why you should advertise with videos online.

People love videos

People are getting more into viewing and sharing videos via Youtube, Facebook and other social networking sites. They just can’t look away.

Everybody is watching videos. Youtube alone has more than 4 million views per day. That said, you need to make promos, ads or video blogs, whatever format best reaches your target audience.

Feature your product’s functionality

Videos are an effective form of advertising as you can vividly show your audience, not just how your product looks like, but also how it performs.

Through this format, you can easily instruct and educate your current and potential customers about your products or services.

Stay ahead of the competition

Most people don’t have time or are too lazy to go through lengthy articles. They would rather spend a couple of minutes watching a video just to get the answers they need.

Users like to see something new and different, and videos can help you deliver. If you wish to stand out from your competitors, you need to create curiosity and offer information in a different way.

Capture interest of users

Videos are a great story-teller. By creating an engaging and compelling video, you can get people to cry, laugh, get mad or excited. This enhances user experience, making them want to come back for more.

 

 

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Tips to Boost Your Email Marketing Efforts

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With the internet spreading its wings all over the world, most business owners and marketers are choosing to switch from the physical aspect of business promotion to email marketing.

Email gives you a direct line of communication with your customers. However, in today’s world of cut-throat business competition, people are being bombarded with emails; thus, making it increasingly difficult for marketing messages to get through. Remember, your marketing efforts won’t do you any good, unless your emails are read.

Listed below are some of the most powerful email marketing tips. Give some of these tips a try and enjoy more productive campaigns.

Develop and maintain the email list

It is important to develop and maintain well-searched email list in order for your marketing campaign to be successful.

Email list is not a one-time thing. You have to remove people who do not respond to your emails or does not seem interested, at least every 3 months.

Longer lists should also be broken down into smaller segments – the openers, the new subscribers, the responders and the deadbeats. From here, you can plan your next move and get the desired results.

Creating the message

Most people skim past the vast majority of messages on their mobile devices. So you have to make sure that your subject line stands out.

Once an email is opened, you only have a couple of seconds to grab their attention. So keep the message short, to-the point and easily readable. Also, don’t forget to add a signature at the bottom of the email.

Build a relationship

When scanning your inbox, the first thing you usually see is the sender’s name. If the recipient does not recognize who the email is from, there’s a great chance that your message won’t get opened.

If that happens, then the rest of these tips won’t even matter. So, try to build a relationship with your subscribers and carefully earn their trust.

Personalize

Your subscribers will appreciate your messages more if they are personalized. You can use data analytics to generate emails and provide personalized recommendations based on the subscriber’s purchase history.

 

 

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Solutions to Common Lead Generation Problems

Generating leads for your business is not an easy task. It requires a lot of work. If it would make you feel better, we’d want to let you know that there is a ton of other marketers who are also struggling with the same troubles.

In this article, we have rounded up some of the most common lead generation problems along with the solutions to help you get things rolling in the right direction. Read on and we’ll tell you more about it.

Low traffic

Your ability to produce a steady stream of traffic is important as it affects your ability to turn visitors into leads and leads into paying customers.

If your traffic is leveling off, then optimization is necessary. That being said, you might want to conduct keyword research. On-page SEO practices like the use of keywords in your title tags, headers, meta-description, links and URL will help you boost your search engine results ranking.

Unqualified leads

Producing tons of leads is great, but it’s the quality of incoming leads that will influence the success of your business.

The best way of addressing unqualified leads can only be summed up in 2 words: buyer personas. In order to capture the right leads, you first have to determine your target audience and capture their attention.

Tight budget

If you think lead generation is challenging, it could be even more challenging if you are working on a tight budget. When the money tree shrivels up, you should have a plan in place in order to sustain lead generation.

If you are focusing on traditional methods or PPC, we’re not surprised why you are sweating profusely. Well, we’re not insinuating that inbound marketing is free, but there are a lot of methods that you can use without sucking up your entire budget.

Lead generation doesn’t always have to be costly. This is especially true if you think smarter, not harder.

 

 

 

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How to Use Video Marketing to Boost Your Business

According to a survey done by comScore Inc.,a global digital marketing service, the average Internet user watches about 185 videos each month. This includes advertising videos, personal videos, entertainment and news clips, etc.

Videos are a great way of engaging your audience in a way images and texts alone cannot. By adding video to your marketing campaign, you can give heart and personality to your business, while demonstrating your authenticity. Additionally, video is capable of providing as much as 50% conversion rate.

If you have no idea what type of video you should create, here are a few tips that will help you produce informative and entertaining clips that will also reveal the human side of your business.

Use customer testimonials

Nothing is more compelling than hearing your clients explain how your products or services helped solve their problems or improved their lives. Use this video to help prospective customers see themselves in the stories of these people.

Demonstrate your products or services

Instead of telling your current and potential customers how your business works, it would be best to show them. In other words, take your how-to guides to the next level and bring it to life. Mind you, educated buyers are more likely to make purchases.

Product reviews

The best products reviews usually come from trusted third-party reviewers. These types of videos can be found from various business portals to YouTube. Feel free to partner with reliable third parties and ask them to create products review for your business.

Corporate overview

These videos are mostly considered as the equivalent of company brochures.  Corporate overviews are usually intended to provide your audience a better idea about your company. These types of videos often include the executives, owners, key products and company history.

Visual stories

Visual stories usually include motion graphics, animations and illustrations with a voice-over. Videos of this kind are intended to explain complex products in a simpler and more compelling manner.

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How to Bounce Back From A Social Media Disaster

Social media disasters may come in a range of fails and embarrassments. Insensitive statements and inappropriate opinion may reflect poorly on your company. Add this to the fact that social media is very public in nature, one mistake may become potentially disastrous.

If you have accidentally sent out a regrettable status update or tweet, don’t panic. Calm down and see if the situation is salvageable. If you’re not sure what to do next, read on and use these tips to help you bounce back from a social media disaster.

Disaster response

Being on the verge of jeopardizing your company’s reputation, it is important to come up with a thoughtful and well-crafted response. As much as possible, avoid a knee-jerk reaction.

In most cases, businesses are not prepared in handling social media disasters. Responding quickly and inappropriately will only make matters worse. Calm down and take a moment to deliver a carefully-worded and rational response to your fans and followers.

Accept your mistake

Everyone makes mistakes, including the most savvy social media marketers. However, the worst part of committing a mistake is by acting like nothing wrong has happened. Whether you have criticized a customer, made an offensive comment or post, or something else, it would be best to accept your mistake and be accountable for your mistakes.

We understand that damage control is on top of your priority list, but deleting the post or comment and acting as if nothing happened can hurt your reputation.

Rebuild your image

A lot of companies have survived a social media disaster, and so can you. After everything has been done, you now have to rebuild your image. Mind you, this may involve an extensive process and you’ll have to work for it for a long period of time.

The key to stopping a social media disaster is by building an incredible brand image. This can be achieved by serving your customers well. At the end of the day, it’s about being honest to your customers/clients and humanizing your brand.

Taking appropriate action immediately after committing a mistake will not only reduce harm, it can also save your brand’s reputation.

 

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Using LinkedIn As A Marketing Tool

After learning the tricks to social media marketing tricks, it is time to put these concepts to work. If you are in need of business to business networking, then LinkedIn is the best place to start.

Of all the social networking platforms, LinkedIn is considered to be the most professional. Used by more than 135 million business professionals worldwide, this should be a part of your social media marketing strategy.

If you are like most people, you might be using LinkedIn as an online resume. Take advantage of this platform and use it as a marketing tool. Read on and incorporate these recommendations into your marketing campaign.

Status updates

This is one of the best ways in keeping your connections informed about what is happening to your business. Post status updates on a regular basis in order to appear active to the LinkedIn community. You can also use links and drive them to your site. Sharing contents that is related to your business may also be a good idea.

Blog posts

Every time you post a blog on your website, important details like the title, abstract and the link to your post will automatically be posted to your LinkedIn profile.

Events

If you are organizing an event or are speaking at an event, you are free to create a LinkedIn event in order to help you promote this event and generate interest.

Presentations

If you have posted a Powerpoint presentation in Google docs or SlideShare, you can also attach this presentation in your LinkedIn profile.

Twitter

If you are an active tweeter, you can always integrate your status updates with your tweets in order to keep your followers and connections informed.

Creative portfolio

Users with a creative portfolio are given the chance to post it to the Behance Network. Once you’re done, you can showcase your work in your LinkedIn profile.

Recommendations

You can easily request recommendations from your LinkedIn connections. A collection of recommendations that highlight your experience and expertise would significantly enhance your profile.

 

 

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Reasons Why People Unfollow You on Twitter

No matter how experienced we are, there are still a lot of things that remain a mystery. Most of these things are focused on why people choose to do what they do.

If you are running a business, you may get frustrated over people who unfollow you. You try to modify your tweeting style in an effort to make them happy and pay attention to your follower count in order to make sure that that it does not go down. Yet, your followers seem to reduce in number over time. Why?

In an attempt to help you answer this question, we have compiled a number of reasons why people unfollow you on Twitter. Read on and curb these annoying Twitter habits.

You forgot the “social”

No one would be interested to follow someone who is excessively promotional. There is nothing wrong in tweeting something about yourself or your company. But if every single tweet revolves about your products or service, then you are not being social.

You don’t have much to say

Twitter is a very noisy platform. A lot of users browser their timelines regularly. However, if you are not tweeting on a regular basis, your followers will most likely lose interest in you.

Space your tweets evenly throughout the day. Try to tweet a few times in a day and make sure to tweet your most important updates at different times so as not to lose your follower’s interest.

You disappear for days/weeks

It is important to check in regularly and respond to retweets, direct messages and mentions. Blasting out tweets and not engaging with your followers is definitely not cool.

Engage with your followers and make an effort to respond to them every single day, including weekends. Don’t allow your profile to look like a ghost town.

You have anger management issues

Nobody would be interested to follow someone who can’t seem to control his/her temper. Too much negativity is one of the major reasons to unfollow someone. Go outside and calm down.

You are a flood tweeter

You’re excited about something and you want everyone to know about it, we get that. However, you don’t have to tweet several times in order to get the message across. Learn to space your tweets.

 

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