Facebook Inc. went public on Friday, May 18, 2012.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had quite the busy week.
Why use social media to push people to your website? There are a several reasons.
I work with hundreds of people each week on how to advertise and how to get free media coverage through press releases. Unfortunately one of the biggest failures I see is in acquiring free press.
Most of the people I work with are very talented writers, business owners and coaches. They do a lot of things right however, when it comes to some critical details I see a lot of balls dropped.
1. Follow up or the lack of: The media gets inundated with press releases daily. If it’s a big news day, no press releases will run or air. In addition, which press release shall they choose to talk about? Odds are the media reads just enough press releases until they fill their need. Unless you follow up with a phone call to bring your press release to their attention, it most likely will not run. So you must call often enough to get their attention. If they say it’s going to run and it doesn’t, call back.
4. Use your press release as a blog post. Re-purpose everything you do including your press releases. Turn it into a very nice blog post. It’s ok to self promote as long as you do it sparingly. If you have a WordPress blog like I do, make sure you have added an All in One SEO Pack plug-in for optimization.
It takes time and effort to write a press release. Once you complete it, make sure you don’t drop the ball on the final and most critical steps. If you don’t have the time to follow up on the four steps above, get someone who can help you. For more information on the importance of press releases, see my post on February 24, 2012.
If your vendor does not offer a co-op program, you can go after free advertising using vendor money. Vendor advertising dollars are creative ways that YOU come up with to secure additional free advertising through the use of the vendors’ money. Very few companies put the time into getting vendor money. But let me tell you it is worth it in a big way.
Once you calculate your advertising budget and your medium(s) of choice, put together a mock buy. For example:
Radio
Flight Dates
Gross Rating Points (GRP’s per Week)
% of demo reached
Frequency
Total Cost
You can do this for any medium including online. Create a brochure and a video presentation. This is not as hard as it sounds, especially with today’s technology. Enlist the help of your advertising agency or the media to prepare and present it with or for you. Be sure to use the medium that will get the largest share of the buy to help you. Let the media outlet know by doing this for you they will receive at least 50% of the medium’s buy. That figure is negotiable. That’s why it is imperative you work with the correct station of your choice. Choose the #1 or #2 media outlet in your demographic to work with you.
Your brochure can be as simple as a Microsoft Word® or PowerPoint® document detailing the media event. Things to include in the brochure are:
During my career I had the pleasure of securing more than $500,000 of co-op for one client and that was in the nineties. This is not rocket science but it does take a little effort. Remember you’re advertising their product and will be buying from them so it’s a win-win for everyone.
Create an attractive video either by hiring a videographer or doing it yourself. This video should talk about where you have come from in terms of product and sales and where you are going. Include history of the company, shots of the employees, etc. This video can be used on-line as well so it serves a dual purpose.
You can also spice up the deal by adding the vendor onto your website with a banner or affiliate link or featuring their product in special showcases. You can also include the vendor on multiple mediums. Be creative because it works.
Free advertising vendor money can create a huge budget for your campaign. Unfortunately, because of the time and effort involved, most companies are not willing to create free advertising vendor programs on their own.
According to eMarketer, 2012 is the year that advertising online will surpass spending for print. In 2011, online advertising grew 23% in the United States, just passing $32 billion dollars. The more advertising online grows, the more spending on print ads declines. Spending for newspaper and magazine is estimated to drop an additional 6.1% in 2012 coming in at $36 billion.
First, you need to know who to buy online advertising from. You can choose from about a hundred different ad networks. Ad networks are the simplest way offering a single purchase across a number of different online sites. Other options are to find an advertising agency, national newspaper sites, search engines, e-mail newsletters and sites that specialize in reaching a technology audience.
Second, figure out who you’re trying to reach and on what sites they are more likely to be found. I would suggest spending more to reach qualified people that will become customers.
According to TopSEOs which is an independent authority on search vendors, the best advertising networks as of May 2012 are:
Adnetik
adBrite
Double Click
ValueClick Media
Casale Media Inc.
Halogen Network
Specific Media LLC
Tribal Fusion, Inc.
CPX Interactive
Pulse 360, Inc.
Fifth, negotiate with different companies on price. The digital advertising market can be just as competitive as the traditional advertising market.
Sixth, there are different pricing structures. Be sure to choose the one that works the best for you. Different pricing includes cost per thousand CPM or impressions. Cost per click, you pay each time someone clicks on your ad regardless of the result. Pay per lead, meaning the prospect requested more information. Pay per conversion, you pay each time a customer buys something. Rates are extremely variable.
Seventh, watch your online advertising closely. Adjust quickly if the campaign is not working. On line advertising can become very expensive if not monitored.
Finally, test your online advertising. When you find an ad that works well, broaden your reach. Continue to monitor online advertising even if it’s working. Changes can occur quickly.
A Keyword is the word or phrase that we type into Google (or any search engine) when looking for something in particular.
When trying to identify your keywords, think like a searcher. For example, if you wanted to hit the softball farther, you might type in “improve my batting average”. This is actually a keyword phrase. A keyword can contain more than one word.
Long Tail and Short Tail Keywords
There are long tail and short tail keywords. Short tail keywords use fewer words and are more general. Long tail keywords use more words and become more specific. Short tail keywords will give you more results but will also have more competition.
Why are Keywords Important?
Search engine spiders and crawlers; search the web reading every website. The search engines give a higher ranking to websites that contain a lot of strong keywords. The better you use your keywords, the higher your website will appear in the search engine organic searches.
Once you have your list of strong keywords you need to use them in your website pages, your blog, articles and social media. By using keywords throughout your website the search engines will give your work higher listings. This can generate a lot of free or organic searches called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
How to find Keywords.
Take a look at the two sites below in order to begin your keyword search.
www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Think like a searcher and enter your keywords. Find the keywords in your niche that have the highest demand. Once you have your keyword list, use your words in your work. The more you use your keywords, the better the search engines will rank your site. The higher your site work is ranked the more people will find you.
How to find your competitions keywords
It is also possible to find out what keywords your competition is using. Go to their website. Once you’re there, click on tools at the top. Next click on Web Developer. Then click on page source. A lot of technical code comes up. Look for the Meta tag section. Then look for keywords. Bingo: you just found your competitors keywords.
Do your homework! The amount of free traffic you get through organic searches is worth the time spent researching your keywords.
Social Media should not be looked at as advertising. Instead, look at your social media to build relationships.
Try to create interactive social media status updates in order to develop mass appeal. Using the following topics can create a better response from customers and prospects.
When using social media, listen to what your customers are asking for and give it them if you can. Don’t ignore them!
Do You Know “How to Advertise Your Business” in the 21st Century?
There are three major categories for how to advertise your business in the 21st century.
• Traditional Media • Social Media • Digital Media
While traditional forms of media have changed, all forms of media work if you use them correctly. Traditional media includes:
• Television Advertising • Cable Television Advertising • Radio Advertising • Magazine Advertising • Newspaper Advertising • Direct Mail Advertising • Billboard or Outdoor Advertising You can also find low cost and no cost platforms to advertise with such as yard signs.
Social media can be used for interactive, informative, educational, or promotional. The largest social mediums are:
• Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Google + • MySpace • LinkedIn
Digital media includes any digital audio or video found on the internet including social media networks.
• Websites • YouTube or any online video • Search Engines • Blogging • Email Marketing • Mobile Media • PodcastsMake sure all forms of communication including website, traditional media, blog, social media, email marketing and mobile apps all give the same brand experience forming one campaign.
Use your traditional media to push prospects or customers into your store front or website. Once the prospect arrives be sure to collect their contact information based on the promise of additional discounts or information. Traditional media has changed in the 21st century however; it is still effective if used properly. Television is still very effective even though the number of viewers has declined. Even newspaper with a declining circulation can still be useful for demographics such as Adults 65+.
Social Media should be used in order to create raging fans that keep coming back for more great products or content on your website. Include social media cross links on everything you do. For example, on email be sure to include your social media links and on your social media be sure to include your email campaigns. Be sure your blog does the same.
According to the New York Times, social media accounts for 22.5 percent of the time that Americans spend online, compared with 9.8 percent for online games and 7.6 percent for e-mail. Americans spend the most time with Facebook, by an enormous margin. During May of 2011, when the report was compiled, Americans spent 53.5 billion minutes on Facebook (That was up 6 percent from 50.6 billion minutes in May 2010). Facebook reaches 70% of all active internet users with females accounting for 62%. Behind Facebook during May was Blogger, at 723.8 million minutes; Tumblr, at 623.5 million minutes; Twitter, at 565.2 million minutes; and LinkedIn, at 325.7 million minutes.
The ROI of Social Media and Digital Media is “Your business will still exist in 5 years!”
Your advertising and who handles it should not be taken lightly. I have seen business owners make all kinds of mistakes when choosing who and when to work with someone. I have seen business owners go out of business because they made bad choices. Whatever decision you make, make it carefully.
Take the time to find help that specializes in what you want done. If you need help with digital media, mobile apps or on-line video, find an agency that specializes in this form of media. If you hire a full service traditional advertising agency who offers digital media or mobile apps services, chances are they will be outsourcing these services. My advice is to get the best help you can when looking for new technology services. If you hire an agency and they outsource, find out who they are using and make sure you feel comfortable with who will be doing the work or go with a different agency.
The bottom line is to learn how to advertise through the use all forms of media.
Where to advertise? Identifying the correct medium(s) to use is critical to the success of your advertising campaign.
TV – Television can reach the masses in large geographical areas at a very low cost per thousand (cpm). Television gives you sight, sound and motion, ultimately creating emotion. Studies have shown that most purchases are based on emotion and backed up with facts. Television gives you emotion. Television is typically the lead medium in an ad campaign. Television can be purchased locally, regionally or nationally.
Cable – Reaches the masses in niche markets. For example, if you have a food product you may want to advertise on the food channel. Cable’s reach is far less than affiliate or network television. However, the cost is also far less. You can also achieve emotion with cable.
Magazine – Can reach a target audiences based on interest or hobbies. Production can be costly and requires a long lead time. Some national publications will allow you to buy regionally in order to cut down on waste.
Newspaper – Can be very localized, quick and inexpensive to produce copy, used for sales and circulars. Newspaper readers have become much older. Newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal have a huge reach and a more upscale audience.
Outdoor or Billboard – Billboards come in many shapes and sizes and can be found on just about anything. Outdoor is used to reinforce ad campaigns, locations, events and radio/TV station campaigns. The best copy for a billboard is eight words or less. Where you advertise geographically on an outdoor billboard will dictate the price. The more viewers, the higher the cost will be.
Direct Mail – Allows you to get very detailed within your target audience. Typically you need to buy a mailing list unless you have your own database. Direct mail has a very low response rate which can give you a very low return on investment. Copy is extremely important in direct mail. Deciding where to advertise and to who will change the cost of direct mail drastically.
Low Cost and No Cost Advertising – Other options exist such as gas pump toppers, car door clings, yard signs, restaurant placemats, etc.
Social Media – is a very low or no cost way to establish awareness. Social Media is much less expensive, more labor intensive and can take much longer to be effective if you’re not using Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Social Media and the Internet are relatively new compared with the other mediums. These mediums can be very effective if used properly. The key is “if used properly.” Take the time to gain the knowledge you need to use it effectively. Determine which social media platforms are best in reaching your target demographic. For example, studies have shown Twitter to be used by a younger audience. Facebook, with over 845 million users globally has a much broader appeal. If you have limited time to devote to social media, deciding where to advertise can be critical.
Digital Media and Mobile Apps – This is the newest form of all advertising mediums and has the capability to reach the masses globally. While websites have been around for quite some time, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Mobile Apps are much newer. The least amount of knowledge and history exists in Digital Media. Just in the last two or three years companies like Zappos and SuperValu have really been able to use Digital Media and Mobile Apps effectively. Technology and the new forms of communication have changed the world forever.
Mobile Apps are currently being used by a very small number of businesses. Expect mobile apps to sky rocket by 2015.
Most small business owners that I talk to don’t really know much about the latest and greatest techniques or the power in using Digital Media; fasten your seatbelts because times are changing rapidly. You do need to begin to become educated on these forms of media in order to stay competitive in the new world. But I will also tell you that traditional forms of advertising do still work. If they didn’t, why in 2011 did 21 of the top digital media companies put a substantial presence in non-online media such as newspapers, phone books or TV?
While traditional media (outbound media) interrupts great content with an intrusive advertising message, digital media (inbound media) attracts consumers by providing engaging magnetic content, leaving them wanting more. Combining traditional media with social media and digital media is important when deciding where to advertise your business.
Social Media isn’t a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.
There are over 200,000,000 blogs.
We no longer search for the news, the news finds us…24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation.
There are 60 million status updates daily on Facebook.
“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media; the question is how well we do it.” Erik Qualman
ARE YOU READY FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!
