This Free Facebook Tool Can Tell You If You Have A Market Or Not

 

One of the biggest mistakes local business owners make when marketing on Facebook is overlooking the fact if there really is a market for their products and services within the site. They overlook the eternal business principle of first finding a market of hungry buyers because if it doesn’t exist, there is no way of making sales.

Fortunately Facebook can help you with your market research with an overlooked and little known free tool that is on every Facebook page. It’s the search box located right at the centre top of your Facebook page.

So how can this search box tell you if you have a market for your local business on Facebook? Follow these steps:

1. Type in your keyword into the search box. That keyword could be the niche or industry your local business is in, phrases or words commonly used, product names etc.

2. As you type in your keyword, Facebook will automatically give you the top 4 results as suggestions to refine your search. Pick the suggestion that best matches your keyword or click at the bottom where it reads ‘see more results’

3. A list of Facebook pages about your keyword will appear. These will usually be fan pages created by individuals or businesses or organizations.

4. Look at the number of fans or likes for the top Facebook pages. Those numbers will tell you if there is a large following and interest in your keyword or not. Large numbers show there is a market on Facebook and you can go ahead and create a presence or an ad campaign. Low numbers show few people have interest in the keyword meaning either there is no market or you need to research other keywords that may reveal where the market is.

A practical example
A local car dealership might want to advertise a certain car model on Facebook. By typing in the car model keywords like Toyota, Subaru, Ford, etc, they will be able to see the number of people who have an interest in those car models on Facebook. The leading page on Subaru has 75000 likes, Ford has over 500,000 likes and Mercedes has 2 million plus fans. This data will help them know where to focus their marketing efforts in a profitable manner.

Tips To Choosing The Right Image For Your Facebook Ad

So you’ve heard that Facebook is the biggest and most popular social media site and you figured that your local business could do well to advertise on this website behemoth and draw traffic to your local business shop or site. So how exactly do you get started? Today we look at choosing the right image for your Facebook ad.

As the old saying goes a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, I say a picture speaks a thousand clicks on Facebook. Your ad picture is by far the absolute number 1 item that will draw eyeballs to your business ad.

Research has shown that the image in a Facebook ad contributes a whooping 70% towards your ad’s success.  Why is that? Well, once again research clearly shows that people take information in better and faster when it’s presented in a visual format (pictures, videos) than in a text format. So your choice of image can be a real deal-maker or deal-breaker.

Here are some tips to choosing the right picture for your Facebook ad

Tip 1    Choose bright colors that contrast well with the Facebook blue and white colors such as red, black and yellow.
Tip 2    Use all the space allocated for your image. Resize your image to measure 110pixels wide by 80 pixels high. You can resize your image free at resizeyourimage.com
Tip 3    Use crazy, funny, humorous, startling images. Look for pictures that display human emotion vividly- joy, anger, panic, fear, laughter, pain, pride etc
Tip 4 Do not put boring pictures of your products or pictures of yourself, unless you have very popular branded products or you are a well –known personality.  Remember you are on a social site so liven up your ad and focus on what your reader would find interesting.
Tip 5 Use up close facial shots- these improve your CTR (click through rates). Make sure the picture zooms in on the face and eyes in particular. Don’t use shots where people are in the background or in positions where you can’t see them clearly.
Tip 6 Use beautiful women in your photos. Whatever your persuasions, it is a proven fact that sex sells. Images of beautiful women always get higher clicks than all other ads. However use images that are proactive but not immoral as those will not be approved by Facebook.

Where to source Images
You might be wondering where you can get images for your Facebook Ads.
There are lots of sites where you can buy images such as shutterstock.com, istockphoto.com etc. Just Google “where to buy photos”. If you’re looking for free images, try morguefile.com or freefoto.com.

 

The Pros And Cons Of Using Twitter To Market Your Local Business

 

This article looks at the advantages and disadvantages of using Twitter to market your local business so that you can be aware of what you are signing up to if you decide to use this social marketing medium.

Pros
Twitter helps you to find your exact target market and those are people who are genuinely interested in what your business is about and its products or services. 

Twitter allows you to connect and engage with your customers on a really personal level. The interaction is casual and continuous and gives your business a real face and voice to people. This is known as conversational marketing
Twitter provides your customers the platform to give you valuable feedback.

 It’s so much easier for them to tweet those 140characters from the comfort of wherever they are than fill in a feedback form. Your local business can get firsthand reviews in real time enabling you to remain nimble so you can give them what they want.

Twitter provides a sales funnel for your local business, enhancing your ecommerce. You can integrate your twitter account into your business operations by using it to take orders, offer exclusive coupons and promote business and social events.

Twitter offers your business a chance to build a community around your brand instead of being a detached entity. This community of followers will become your mini-marketing army through the viral network.


Cons
It takes some time to set up and gain followers. You need to be organized and patient in the initial stages before you see big results.

It can be addictive because you feel chained to your phone all the time, always checking for incoming tweets and then responding to them. It’s hard to separate your business life from your personal life and that can affect you socially with family and friends taking second place.

It is a double-edged sword and you need to be ready to accept the good and down right nasty tweets about your business.
Bad news travels faster than good news so any mistakes or controversies your business has will travel at lightning speed on Twitter. You need to be extremely quick to do damage control if this happens.

 Because people always know what you and your business are up to and in some cases your exact location, it could result in security issues if someone maliciously used that information. It is always wise to err on the side of caution and decide what you shouldn’t tweet about concerning yourself and your business.

Understanding SEO: On Page SEO vs. Off Page SEO - BizTavern.com

As a small business owner, you are very likely barraged with information and various opinions about your website.  Clients might like the photos of you and your dog on the “About Us” page, and various companies might be calling asking if you would like to “buy a top spot” on their search pages. 

The worst thing you can probably hear, besides “Your site crashed,” is “We looked for you online but couldn’t find you!”  

The fact is, you’re basically sunk without SEO.  But, what kind of SEO should you incorporate into your website?  Some say “Content is King”, and believe on page SEO rules the internet, while others declare that off page SEO is more important:  “Links Reign Supreme!”  Who should you listen to? 

What is On Page SEO?
On page Search Engine Optimization includes things like optimizing keywords, tags, and web content.  Search engines love heading tags that emphasize key points, and they grab on to images that include “img alt” tags that include those same keyword phrases. 

Additional strategies for using on page SEO include labeling folders and naming files so that they are keyword rich, since search engines crawl through and index your site using folder and file names. Don’t rely on a snappy title alone, and think that your page is optimized.

What is Off Page SEO?
Off page SEO is the term that refers to any search engine optimization that takes place off your webpage.  Things like article marketing, linking and backlinking, and social media marketing are an important part of off page SEO. 

Which Type of SEO is Better?
It turns out that both camps in the search engine optimization debate have something valuable to offer.  If you want to make the most of your website, include plenty of each type of SEO and you’ll come out ahead.

How To Optimize
All this may have you feeling a bit overwhelmed – and that’s not surprising!  Optimizing a website properly takes research, time, and effort.  As a small business owner, you very likely lack both the time and desire to take all these steps yourself.  If you had a major water main break inside your building you wouldn’t try to fix it yourself – and the same is true for getting your site up to speed.  

Get an SEO expert onboard.  Find someone who can help you with both on page SEO and off page SEO.  Your site will be optimized in just a short amount of time, and you’ll see site traffic as well as your bottom line increase.

 

Why Your Small Business needs SEO Marketing - Marketing Tip no 019

 
So, you are trying to increase traffic on your small business website!  
That's a great idea, but one that can quickly start to feel complicated.  
If you've started the process of building a better site, and you feel like you're stuck, you might wonder what to do next. 

SEO marketing is definitely something to consider. 
In case you're not aware, SEO marketing is a process that improves the visibility of your website or web page in search engines.
When your site appears earlier and more often in the search result list then it will generate more visitors.  

With a small (or large) investment, depending on your funds and your needs you can boost the exposure your business gets on the ever growing internet!
So how do you achieve more visibility? 
Consulting firms that specialize in SEO can help your small business improve drastically. 

 
Some offer only SEO services while others offer SEO services as part of a larger menu of marketing campaign strategies. 
Effective SEO marketing may require changes to the HTML code of the site; you may need an SEO consultant when developing your website design. 
This may require more money than you can afford to spend but don’t worry there are plenty of tutorials on SEO marketing. 
There are also numerous consultants that can help on an hourly basis. 
This is likely your best option to start with so you spend as little money as possible when starting up your SEO marketing efforts.  

Tips to Remember
You do not need to start with a web presence. 
You can build your presence as you go.  
Follow the advice your SEO team gives you – they've been where you are, time and time again. 

There are numerous advantages to SEO marketing for your small business. 
These include long term results, lower costs than a PPC marketing campaign and most importantly an SEO marketing campaign offers immediate results. 
Some aspects that may initially seem to be disadvantages are that the initial process of optimization can be long, it may be complicated and changes must be made to your website often.  
Keep in mind, an experienced SEO professional can handle all this for you and make the process  painless.

When you use SEO techniques, you get a great return on investment so long as you do it right.  
Use a customized plan, and remember to be flexible.  
The internet is changing all the time – trust your SEO to a professional so you can focus on running your business. Browse our Digital Marketing Services at https://www.RedCowAdvertising.com/

Email Marketing For Small Business Owners - Marketing Tip no 003

Who hasn’t been the victim of targeted email marketing, where someone has sold your email address and all of a sudden you’re the lucky recipient of things like “Try this little blue pill!” or “Use this credit card – you can’t live without it!”  

As a small business owner, you certainly don’t want to fall into the same category as these unwanted messages do: that category is Spam!  

On the other hand, you can run an effective email marketing campaign that your customers will enjoy.
Let’s take a look at what a good email marketing campaign is, and why it works so well for businesses of every size.

What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a method for telling customers or potential clients about a product, service, or combination of the two, that you have.
It’s a way to give them insight about what is going on with your business, and it’s a great way to build a good working relationship with them.
This is particularly true if you have a consumable product or service.
The fact is, people have a lot on their minds, and they are constantly barraged with a whole host of messages from every direction.
Failing to communicate with your customers puts you at risk of being forgotten.

How Does Email Marketing Work?
While it is possible for a business owner to send out little reminders to a group of customers on a regular basis, doing it the old fashioned way is not the best use of your valuable time.

Here’s the best way to do it:
1) Come up with a message, or set of messages.
You might run regular sales or service specials, or want to promote a lunch or dinner special for your restaurant on a regular basis.
2) Remember, talk to people like they’re your friends, because in the end, they are.
Customers can make or break your business, and you want them to love you.
Make your message friendly.
3) Take advantage of an email autoresponder.
Load your email contacts into the autoresponder, and get your message to your customers. 

Just like every other aspect of online marketing for small businesses, using email marketing and autoresponders  is something that requires a certain amount of finesse.  Get together with your online marketing specialist, and create a specialized plan that will work wonders for your business! Browse our Email Marketing Services at https://alterleads.com/

Email Marketing Can Help Your Small Business Thrive

 

 
Once you’ve got a customer’s information, what do you do with it?  Do you hide it in a box or a file cabinet somewhere?  Do you let it slumber peacefully in your rolodex?  Or, do you put it to work, to keep that customer informed and curious about what’s happening with your business?  I vote for option three! 

 

 Email marketing using an autoresponder is one of the best ways to round out an internet marketing campaign and keep your customers coming back for more. 

What is Email Marketing? 

If you’re thinking about all the spam you delete, and wondering whether that’s what we’re talking about, forget it.  Effective email marketing allows you to take information you have gathered from your customers and provide them small items of value that make them look forward to hearing from you.
One example of such an effective campaign is the newsletter.  

You might get newsletters yourself – I get them from my gym, from my favorite local coffee shop, and from a variety of other places where I do business or enjoy hanging out online.  These newsletters aren’t that big, and they only take a few minutes to read.  They inevitably give me some kind of reason why I just cannot afford to miss a visit to Zumba class next week (Hey, we’re changing up the tracks! Spring is almost here, and you need to tone up!) or why I really can’t go another minute without the latest beverage or confection from Organic Grounds.   
At some point, I gave my email information to these places, and checked “Yes! I would love to get more information and valuable coupons!”   As a result, I spend more time and effort, not to mention money, in the establishments that send me valuable emails.  Easy! 

How To Use Email Marketing
Using email marketing is easy.  All you’ve got to do is start collecting email information – it can be with an autoresponder that is connected to your website contact form, or it can be through social media or through your brick and mortar store’s cash register (“Do we have your email?”).   Get permission to send email, and then write up some promotions, helpful hints, etc.  Don’t send them every day – be a little sporadic and make sure you write catchy titles.  Always include something valuable.  Coupons are nice!  

Get an internet marketing company to help you set everything up – it’s very easy to do, and your customers will be happy to hear from you.  Talk about a quick, easy, and painless way to help your business grow – this is it!
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