Slow and Steady Wins the Social Media Marketing Race

Posted on December 12, 2012 by admin

12172168_mSlow and steady wins the race. It’s a great motto for companies to keep in mind while embarking into social media marketing. All too often, companies expect immediate results when investing time and money into their marketing tools. Social media marketing doesn’t fit that bill.

It can be very exciting to join in the Twitter and Facebook feeding frenzy. Every one is doing it and many companies hire an outside firm to manage their social media for them. It doesn’t take long to acquire hundreds of “likes” on Facebook or thousands of followers on Twitter. But company execs need to know that this initial volume does not equate to sales. In fact, few will see any jump in revenue at all in those first 30 or 60 days. The biggest mistake is to fall off the map and cancel their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Social media marketing takes time. You can’t expect to build brand recognition overnight so expecting revenue increases with Twitter and Facebook in a week is unrealistic. The point is establishing that personal interaction with your customers. Those relationships need to be nurtured and companies have to provide content for readers and create that need for products and services.

Think of social media marketing as the mile run and not the 50-yard dash. Long-distance runners build up stamina the same way a company builds a reputation. After launching a few digital campaigns within the first months of your social media marketing trial should help to bring in more customers and sales. Target specific followers and cater the content provided to them at the most optimal times.

Perhaps most importantly, integrate your social media campaign with your content marketing. If you blog about a topic, focus on the same topic in your social media posts. If you issue a press release, that should be the main subject line in your next Facebook post. You want to send the consistent message, and make sure it’s something your audience wants to know. Remember, it isn’t a place to shout out your news, but instead share experiences.

If you’re not sure how to make it all fit together, we can help. Post something on one of our social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn – and we can help you figure out your marathon strategy in the new year.

Posted in Brand, Consistent Customer Communications, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Effective Web Sites: Graphic Designer or Web Designer? They Must Work Together

Posted on December 11, 2012 by admin

8347041_mWeb designers and graphic designs are birds of the same feather.

Essentially, both are talented artists working with different sets of rules. Web designers are just that, they design with the Internet in mind. It’s pretty self explanatory yet not that simple. These artists are not only responsible for the aesthetics of a site but the importance of the content and how it drives customer traffic.

Graphic designers on the other hand are probably the more creative of the two. They work primarily in print form which allows their fully talent to be showcased. There is no hindrance of colors, font styles or bold and graphic images.

This is probably where the two split the most. One design cannot be transferred to the other. What works well on a half-page add in a glossy magazine doesn’t appeal to the visitors of the company’s website. Sometimes flashy color combinations can get lost not only the text but the point of the information being presented to the readers.

It is usually the job of the web designer to find this happy medium. And when web and graphic designers work together there is often a serious personality clash. The graphic designer often looks at websites as boring, mundane and missing personality. Web designers see many print works as too much fluff and illusion and lack fluidity.

Yet to have a successful web page, both need to compromise on five key elements: ideas, focus, style, standards and output. Web designers should be able to take a concept of the graphic designer and run with it. Graphic designers will need to keep in mind, though, that less is more. Presentation has to be about the readers and not about the artist’s work. Doing this is an art form of its own and web designers have the sole rights to it. Unlike their graphic designer counterparts, web designers understand more than the artistry behind a good design. They understand the logistics of computer programming to make it all work in one cohesive piece.

Finally, the two must work together with the key project lead, whether that is the marketing director within the solutions company or the main contact at the client’s location. Regardless, there are key marketing initiatives that must be met with everything that is completed online. Without a strong background in these areas, the web developer and the graphic designer may fall short of hitting the mark and delivering the results the client needs.

Without clear harmony among this team, the end result will fail to reach the level of excellence expected by the client. Ultimately, the client needs to receive the best solutions possible for their investment, guided by the marketing expert. Anything less can damage the brand on both sides.

Are you getting the best return on your online and marketing investments? If not, it may be time to make a change.

Posted in Consistent Customer Communications, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Website | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Monday Morning Coffee with Offsite Image Management: Technology No One Else is Doing, in Places They Aren’t Going…

Posted on December 10, 2012 by admin

offsitePlanning on traveling in some off-the-beaten-path areas of Missouri, Kansas or even rural Texas? The team at Offsite Image Management likely knows the best place for coffee on most two-lane highways across these regions. Although they may serve primarily a rural and mid-sized client base, there’s nothing slow or “off the map” about the technology solutions they’re supplying to impact patients’ lives – solutions in the precise places where clinics and hospitals need them most.

In fact, if you want to chat about DICOM for health information exchange, Level 4 Data Centers and vendor neutral archiving, do so over coffee with the Offsite Image Management Team. If you also want to talk about ways to offer solutions no one else is offering, and how to implement a very personal knowledge of the problems clinics and hospitals face, they’re also your guys.

For clinics and hospitals who are charged with managing, storing and sharing volumes of radiological data and images for patients, data security and safety is paramount. Should disaster strike, thousands of patient images and records could be lost without data recovery service from Offsite. The technology can also be scaled to match the needs of larger health institutions.

Perhaps of even greater importance is the expertise Offsite Image Management has in vendor neutral archiving, allowing hospitals and clinics to instantly call up, view and share critical patient records from anywhere. The solution is part of the company’s complete Level 4 Data Center capacity. As a hospital or clinic system grows and adds new technology, patient data and images remain intact and compatible across multiple platforms.

Company founder and CEO, Lasha Dalakishvili, knows first-hand how important these services are.  Dalakishvili worked for more than fifteen years in the field, including as a radiological technician and has owned two radiological imaging companies. His partners have outstanding healthcare IT expertise, and together, they offer something else no one else is doing: a Health Information Exchange for radiology images in DICOM format. Because it’s placed within a vendor neutral format, clinics have the flexibility to search patient records regardless of where they came from or where they’re going.  This means greater precision for data sharing and saving precious time when providing patient care.

At the heart of the growth of Offsite Image Management’s client base is a reflection of the team’s focus on relationships. “We get to know people and what their data challenges are on a personal level,” says Dalakishvili. “There’s an element of trust there.”

Building these relationships involves custom marketing, based mainly on press releases and email news. They capture leads at events and tradeshows and then send these contacts valuable, permission-based email information regularly to grow their lead base. “We talk about the topics they want to know more about, the areas where we have the key expertise they need. This gives us a special niche.”

As they continue to grow, logging the miles from state to state, The Offsite Image Management team hasn’t lost sight of building meaningful relationships and giving customers valuable information.  Now that’s something to write home about, wherever you call home.

Posted in Content Marketing, Monday Morning Coffee, Success Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Content Marketing Trends That May Interest You

Posted on December 7, 2012 by admin

11968694_mThere’s no argument that content marketing consumed much of the B2B community this year. The B2B Content Marketing Trends 2012 report was released earlier this week. In it was the answers of nearly 30,000 members of the LinkedIn B2B Technology Marketing Community.

There weren’t too many surprises but a lot of interesting talking points. Education, lead generation, and brand awareness are the top content marketing trends moving forward.

  • Budget is always a crucial factor in each of these and the report showed that content marketing budgets grew by 50 percent over last year. As outbound B2B marketing becomes more prevalent, companies are looking at investing more time and energy into inbound lead generation. Outbound costs more than content marketing but is responsible for generating two times the leads. The irony is that content generation closed more deals and made more money. Hmm . . .  so I’m still curious why there isn’t more of a shift?
  • Social media and its impact on marketing trends was slightly mind boggling. Facebook and Twitter apparently still win the popularity contest against Google+ and Slideshare.
  • Trade and in-person events blew most of the content marketing budget. Yet, the effectiveness of such an expensive product is yet to be seen. There are plenty of other content marketing platforms to do the job and are much easier on the pocketbook.
  • There are still many challenges with time and production but most marketing trends show that there is a serious jump in production. B2B ContentEngine might be an overlooked tool to overcome some of those obstacles to increase content.

Are you staying on top of the current trends in content marketing? If you are finding it all just a little overwhelming and are looking for some guidance, look no further. At Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions we take pride in our abilities to keep your content creative and engaging. Contact us to schedule a conversation.

 

Posted in Content Marketing, Mobile Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Limitless Possibilities

Posted on December 6, 2012 by admin


At SJC, we believe that your story is unique, and that your voice should be heard. We will work with you in a collaborative partnership to develop a strategy that supports your message and communicates your mission to your target audience. We will help you define the best way to tell your story, identify who needs to hear your story and determine what channels are necessary to reach that key audience.

You can’t hit your target unless you take action. Contact us today.

Posted in Content Marketing, Copywriting, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Success Stories, Video Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Investing in Content Marketing Chia Pet Style: A Little Water, Lots of Growth

Posted on December 4, 2012 by admin

Chia-Pet-BunnyMany organizations are thinking like a Chia Pet when it comes to investing in content marketing: invest a little, get a lot.

A recent study said that around 79 percent of organizations where moving away from other types of marketing and moving more heavily into content marketing or online marketing. The stronger focus on keyword utilization across website copy, blog campaigns, social media strategies and online video tools reflects that companies are spending more today to build their brand, and hiring experts in the field to handle it for them. They’re also seeing more results from these strategies, while watching costs drop as the campaign progresses.

Why?

– Over a period of six months, on average, they’re seeing their content marketing costs decline while leads and results go up.

– Unlike other forms of marketing, investing in content marketing allows a brand’s message to grow and grow. The more sources of valuable information posted across online platforms, such as whitepapers, news articles and blogs, the greater the page rank and the greater the return on leads.

– Investing in content marketing allows the audience to share and re-post content on behalf of the organization, becoming strong brand advocates and building a sense of expert status.

– Content market also allows for precise modifications to the keyword or content strategy based upon actual results. Keywords, article topics or social media posts that get great results can be emphasized; those that aren’t as successful can be changed or replaced.

More than half of organizations who participated in the study said they were investing in outside firms to achieve their content marketing goals. Investing in content marketing makes sense – it’s customized, can be tracked, and allows the message to grow a life of its own after a short period of time.

Posted in Blog Writing, Brand, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing, White Paper Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Monday Morning Coffee with Spirit Miller

Posted on December 3, 2012 by admin

In the world of Internet Marketing, there are companies that build a website and let it sit and others who take a closer look at the content, their overall goals and content creation to drive more traffic to their pages. It is the latter that we found in Spirit Miller. Fortunately for us, they needed a little help along the way.

As a turnkey driveaway services provider, Spirit Miller has a strong leadership position in its niche market. The company is family-owned and managed and provides a quality work environment for its employees and independent truck drivers. With a market that is ever-changing, however, Spirit Miller needed to take a closer look at its online presence to see what opportunities existed for driving more traffic.

Upon examination of the company’s current website, a few things became obvious. First, Spirit Miller was ranking well in search results for the company name and for the term “driveaway services” as both were in the heading on the website and subsequent pages. If prospective clients or drivers were using other terms to search for what Spirit Miller had to offer, they may never be found.

Second, there was no consistency in the content, a place did not exist for a blog or news feed to provide new information on the company or the industry and social media was virtually non-existent. It was also noted that the website lacked some visual appeal. With a new strategy in place, the Spirit Miller site was about to experience a facelift.

Once a keyword list was developed based on competition and search volume, the content for the site was rewritten with a focus on specific keywords. Pages were added to the site for a Spirit Miller blog and Trucking News. Images were added to specific pages and calls to action instructed interested parties to take the next step.

Within just five days of making these strategic changes to the Spirit Miller website, the site claimed top search engine ranking for targeted keywords, including Driveaway Jobs. Plus, the website is enjoying a steady growth in traffic as Spirit Miller uses it to attract potential clients and new qualified drivers.

The next step will be to put a clear social media strategy in place and update the blog and trucking news pages on a regular basis, still focusing on specific keywords to drive traffic. Given the site’s current success thus far, this is one project we’re already celebrating as a true win.

Posted in Blog Writing, Monday Morning Coffee, Social Media Marketing, Success Stories, Website | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

B2B Content Marketing Trends

Posted on November 29, 2012 by admin

Engaging content is a challenge. Need creative power? At Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions We Write. You Shine.

Posted in Content Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Video Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment