Tag Archives: awareness

Content, The Heart and Soul of Your Online Brand

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The importance of content for an online store should never be underestimated. According to a recent post by Jeff Bullas, “having inspiring and educational content is one thing, but distributing and marketing that content is vital to promote a global brand.” In the post, Bullas uses a case study of the online retailer, Mr Poter, a men’s fashion store. The company managed to acquire more than 1 million unique browsers, include 150 brands on their site, and ship to 170 countries in less than a year.  Bullas believes this seemingly impossible feat was achieved because of the “great content in various media formats that educates, informs and provides” information to their subscribers. Mr Porter utilizes a variety of different social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, all of which display original content.

Read more of Jeff Bullas’ post, “Content, The Heart and Soul of Your Online Brand” via JeffBullas.com

-Julia LaSalvia, Lexity

Why Should Small Businesses Embrace e-Marketing?

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In a recent post by Jonathan Blomquist, the importance of online advertising is discussed. Online advertising has completely changed the way companies reach out to their customers.  According to Blomquist, “no longer do massive media agencies control the flow of information, generate awareness, and produce ads for struggling start-ups or thriving corporations.”  Anyone has the ability to reach an international audience and speak to them directly. This has dramatic implications for nearly every facet of operations: marketing strategies, product development, pricing strategies, advertising promotions, distribution channels, and specialized customer targeting are all affected. In the post, Blomquist advises businesses to embrace e-marketing and gives techniques to expand your business’ potential reach.

Read more of Jonathan Blomquist’s blog,  Why Should Small Businesses Embrace e-Marketing? via business2community.com

-Julia LaSalvia, Lexity 

 

 

Use Tumblr for Brand Awareness

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It is common knowledge that social media sites are crucial to increasing brand awareness, but did you know there is more to the social media world than just updating your Facebook and Twitter? In Bill Faeth’s new blog post for Inbound Marketing, he discusses how utilizing Tumblr could be the most effective social media platform for increasing your company’s visibility. So why is Tumblr so special? According to Faeth, “millenials rule on Tumblr.”  Over half of all Tumblr users are under 25 years old.  Additionally, the site allows users to upload high-resolution photos and be a little more creative than sites like Twitter and Facebook.  Unlike traditional blog-type websites, Tumblr also allows user distribute videos or infographics detailing their products.

Read more of Bill Faeth’s blog, Use Tumblr for Brand Awareness, via InboundMarketingAgents.com

-Julia LaSalvia, Lexity 

8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap

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Need to build brand awareness, but not overly burdened with extra marketing funds? Most small business owners are in the same boat as you—which is why today’s recommended reading on brand awareness is Lauren Drell’s 8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap. Lauren suggests providing “Killer Customer Service” and “Collaboration” as inexpensive techniques for expanding your brand’s reach.

Read all of Lauren Drell’s tips in her article 8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap via www.mashable.com

Facebook Tools To Increase Brand Awareness

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What Facebook tools can a small business person use to bump up their brand’s awareness? Valerie Killifer, former editor of FastCasual.com, recommends and reviews six Facebook tools you can use to promote your business and provides twelve tips for creating fan engagement. However, Killifer does point out that “First and foremost, as a small business owner you need to understand that social media is not FREE!  Social media takes time, money and consistency to build a community that is loyal to your brand.” So plan to dedicate some real time to any social media campaigns to see real results.

Read all of Valerie Killifer’s article Facebook Tools To Increase Brand Awareness via socialbizdiva.com

-Michelle Crawford, Lexity

SMS Marketing Case Study: How Macy’s Drives Sales Through Text Marketing

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Awareness

Presidents and posh departments stores do it—maybe you should, too. What is it? SMS marketing. According to CallFire.com, a telephony pioneer and SMS gateway, “One of the most effective ways small businesses can communicate with their clients and build their mobile database is through SMS text messaging. Due to the ubiquity of mobile devices, SMS marketing is an ideal solution for local retail stores to communicate with customers and build brand awareness.” Their post outlined how a recent SMS text campaign by Macy’s not only invited opted in customers to take 15% off end of summer goods, but also exposed this customer base to shopping via Macy’s mobile site.

Read the whole article here: SMS Marketing Case Study: How Macy’s Drives Sales Through Text Marketing via tesla.callfire.com

-Michelle Crawford, Lexity

Building a Community Around Your New Online Store

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Before you begin promoting your small business and building brand awareness across social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, etc.), start “by creating a unique voice… [via] in-store, e-mail, social media, and your website and ecommerce platform.” Shawn Graham (for Shopify) recommends making a cohesive promotional campaign that looks ”for every opportunity to educate your customers on what they’ll be able to find online.” Developing a brand voice requires that you take a look at the core missions of your small business. If your small business was to have a voice, would it be humorous? Witty? Sincere and knowledgeable? From experience, customers appreciate and reward consistency — and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be tweeting, posting and updating just as consistently.

To read more about building a community around your online store and promoting brand awareness, check out Shawn Graham’s guest post for Shopify in November 2011, Building a Community Around Your New Online Store.

-Christopher Lin, Lexity

Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages

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Two important lessons for promoting brand awareness on Facebook can be learned from looking at the “Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages,” chosen by Social Media Examiner: 1) a stunning cover photo (i.e. smart visual branding) can go a long way; and 2) balancing valuable and fun posts is crucial. Take a look at Social Media Examiner’s choice for #1 just below.

Snapshot of Facebook Page: "How to Market Your Horse Business"

Click the picture above to view the Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages. Credited to Social Media Examiner.

If you intend to use Facebook as a marketing tool for your small business, you need to devote just as much time and energy into it as you would any other marketing endeavor. The key to accomplishing the first lesson above (creating a great cover photo) comes with 1) figuring out the personality of your small business, 2) brainstorming multiple ideas to capture that personality in an image, 3) centering the attention around your main product (or products) in the image, and 4) receiving feedback from others before publishing.

The key to the second lesson comes with practice. Take a look at Phil Mershon’s post, Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages, to learn more about promoting brand awareness through Facebook.

-Christopher Lin, Lexity

Do’s and Don’ts for Community Management

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It’s Labor Day! And we’re sure you don’t want to exert too much effort on this glorious, hopefully work-free day. So, we’re posting about an [infographic] we found to help with building brand awareness through social media (specifically Facebook). No effort needed — it’s all about the do’s and don’ts of community management across social media channels.

Infographic Image about Social Media Do's and Don'ts

Click the image to see the infographic in full. Infographic by http://www.returnondigital.com

To read more about community management, building brand awareness and the do’s and don’ts of social media, head over to Mai Bruun Poulsen’s article, Do’s and Don’ts for Community Management.

-Christopher Lin, Lexity

5 Ways to Market Your Brand on LinkedIn

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LinkedIn LogoWhy use LinkedIn? Sure, we can tell you that LinkedIn (like other social media platforms) can improve your brand awareness strategy and recommend that you create a profile immediately. But that leaves you hanging dry—the fact is, LinkedIn offers multiple services  (not yet widely known) that are quickly gaining popularity due to their impact. The reason? They’re specifically tailored for building brand awareness. Linda Coles recommends the creation of a custom group on LinkedIn. “A custom group is very similar to a regular group, except you’ll earn ample space to customize a space on the right side of the page. You can add video, integrate a blog, Twitter feeds or other RSS feeds. Or try adding a poll, from which you can ask your group members questions quickly and easily.”

LinkedIn can be great for improving brand awareness (though some services may cost extra). To learn more, read Linda Coles’s article for Mashable, 5 Ways to Market Your Brand on LinkedIn.

-Christopher Lin, Lexity