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Posts Tagged ‘viral marketing’

7 Ways to Improve the Stickiness Of Your Website

April 21st, 2013

Hi All!

The following article is a Guest Post written by Michael Fleischner, an Internet marketing expert and the President of MarketingScoop.com. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and had appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. You can visit MarketingScoop.com for further details and more marketing articles including tips on how to improve search engine rankings for your web site.

Check out this great advice from this seasoned pro!

7 Ways to Improve the Stickiness Of Your Website

Today more than ever, consumers are overwhelmed with choices, and distractions. The cost of attracting users to your website continues to increase and keeping them engaged is more important than ever.

Engagement doesn’t end with an individual browser reading content or clicking on an ad. Rather, engagement is an ongoing process that results in loyal customers who come back again and again, becoming more vested in your web site.

How can you make sure you’re engaging and keeping customers?

In order to create a loyal following, there are some basic principles you need to consider. From first impressions to life-long membership, put yourself in the shoes of your browsers and make their experience a valuable one.

  1. Reduce Clutter. How many times have you visited a website only to be overwhelmed and confused? What is this site about you may have asked yourself. Or perhaps you found yourself asking, ‘Where is the information I’m looking for?’Don’t ask your browsers or potential customers to figure this out. Make your site clutter free and create a visual priority that emphasizes the information, resources, or actions your browsers want. By reducing obstacles you build trust among new web site visitors and allow for simple decision making – which benefits everyone.
  2. Make Navigation Intuitive. There are many ways to navigate a web page but intuition rules the day. Don’t try to get fancy with your navigation or overuse java script. Basic navigation that follows current convention is the best way to lead individuals through your web site to the information they’re looking for.
  3. Make The Initial Site Interaction Relevant. When a browser reaches your web site, you have less than seven seconds to get them engaged. Making your initial site interaction relevant to what individuals are looking for is essential for keeping them interacting long term.If you are promoting your web site with Google Adwords, or any pay per click advertising for that matter, be sure to create customer landing pages that are truly relevant to the individual who clicks-through your ad. Once you’ve established relevancy, you can move them deeper into your content, tools, and resources.
  4. Ensure That Your Content Is Up-to-date. Web site content that isn’t up to date does not serve your audience and browsers are likely to move on. One way to ensure that information is timely is by providing a feed of relevant news or information. If including static text on your web pages, try not to include specific dates. However, if you must publish dates, be sure to update this information on a regular basis.
  5. Start An Interaction With Your Users. Each time a browser views your web page, you have an opportunity to interact with them. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. One great way to interact is to offer something of value at no cost. This can be a white paper, access to an exclusive list, or simply a 30 day free trial. Be sure to capture an individual’s valid email address and include them on your mailing list. An auto-responder is best if you wish to engage these individuals on an ongoing basis.
  6. Provide Plenty Of Support. Don’t hesitate to offer support right from your home page. Prominently display your 800 number, support email address, and additional information for your prospects and customers such as mailing address. This information is viewed favorably by search engines and also creates a sense of legitimacy. Contact information builds trust among prospects and elicits interest in your company.
  7. Make Sharing Easy. Once you’ve made your web site easy to use, don’t hesitate to offer browsers the ability to share your web site with others. This can be in the form of a simple widget that allows users to bookmark your page, subscribe to an Rss feed, or submit your content to popular news sites like Digg.com.Individuals are much more likely to visit a web site based on a friend’s recommendation versus some other type of marketing initiative. Leverage the power of viral marketing with easy sharing tools.

Your web site can be your greatest asset. Unfortunately, many marketers and website owners are so focused on increasing traffic that they lose site of the audience that’s already visiting their web pages but are simply not converting.

Don’t make the same mistake. Improve the quality of you site through relevant content that is up-to-date and easy to find. Once you’ve engaged users, encourage them to share. Doing so will make your site perform better, increase conversions, and deliver value for all involved.

Thank you, Michael, for sharing that great info! And I hope all of you found it helpful for increasing awareness and respect for your personal and business brands!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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How To Sell More With The Power Of Stories

June 30th, 2010

Hi All!

The following article is a guest blog courtesy of Patrick Jobin at Storagepipe Solutions. And although they target larger companies, the strategy he shares in this article can be used by a business of any size, and it’s very cost-effective!

How To Sell More With The Power Of Stories

Here’s an interesting technique that can be used to explain complex value propositions in a very simple way.

For example, an IT manager might want to hire you for a major project, but the VP of Finance will need proper justification before writing the check. For this to happen, clear communications have to take place between IT, your company and the Finance VP.

This is a common scenario faced by Storagepipe Solutions, a provider of online backup and archiving services for larger businesses. They’ve developed a unique method of communicating their message – in a clear, non-technical way that everyone can understand- through the use of stories.

Take a look at this video EXAMPLE to see what I mean.

This video explains the benefits of our Email Archiving services… but does it in a clear and non-technical way. We use video stories and visual examples to build curiosity and interest. Rather than talking about our company or our solutions, we only talks about the customer’s pain points.

If you’d like to create a video of your own in this style, you can do so easily and inexpensively.

First, you’ll need to lay out a storyline.

Since your customers can use your product in many different ways, you’ll need to focus on just one “use scenario” per video. Write out a short script that’s no more than 2 minutes long. (So your viewers don’t get bored)

Then, record the audio as a WAV or MP3 file. If you don’t currently have audio recording software installed on your machine, you can download Audacity for free.

Once the audio script is recorded, draw out all of the scenes on paper, and scan them into your computer. Try to make at least 1 picture for every 10 seconds of audio. Keep the drawings (or images) simple! You don’t have the be a professional artist.

Next, you can simply join everything together using Windows Movie Maker. This is a free program that comes with your Windows system. (If you’re a Mac user, there are also a number of video editing options available to you).

In Windows Movie Maker, simply align all of the images so that they synch with your audio track, and export the movie. If you have a YouTube account, you can also upload your movie to get some viral traffic.

Yes, it’s really that simple!

In just a few hours, you can make your own high-quality, sales-generating video case studies without spending a cent. This is much more effective than simply handing over a stale brochure with boring features and benefits.

Try creating your own videos and posting them in this blog’s comments below. We’d love to see what you’ve come up with!

About The Author: Storagepipe Solutions provides world-class corporate data protection solutions, including online backup and recovery, electronic archiving and business continuity.

Thanks, Patrick, for this contribution! I’m sure my readers will find this helpful for their marketing, sales, lead generation and brand building efforts.

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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Did You Know You Can ‘Outsource’ Your Social Media Efforts…Cost Effectively?

March 29th, 2010

Hi All!

Okay, there is a God (or Buddha, or whatever you believe in). I had a great conversation with Eve Mayer Orsburn, CEO of an AWESOME company called Social Media Delivered (.com). Here’s the gist so you can wrap your brain around what her company does…

You possibly: Outsource your design needs to a designer; or outsource your web needs to a webmaster; or outsource your PR needs to a PR consultant…so why not outsource your Social Media needs/efforts to an outside vendor, too?

That’s what Eve’s company handles! They offer great package prices for small businesses (even one-person shops), but they also have large corporate clients who outsource their social media efforts to them.

Here’s their Company Overview:

Social Media Delivered offers consulting, training and marketing services specializing in social media campaigns for individuals and organizations. We leverage the power of LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and viral marketing to bring the right people together to get our clients goals accomplished.

So, not only can her company help create or improve your current social media strategy, BUT (and here’s what differentiates their company from a company that ONLY helps with strategy!!!) they also IMPLEMENT…that means they’ll send tweets, keep your Fan Page active, keep your LinkedIn profile current/active, create blog posts, etc.

Very cool! What an AMAZING niche she has! Everyone is so busy these days…so to be able to outsource your social media efforts to keep your outreach consistent and current, which in turn means making them more effective for you?? Fabulous.

Check out their services and pricing, and see what you think!

And they offer free consultations so you can contact them with questions…

Cheers!

Lisa


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