by Scott Howard | Jul 31, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World
Last week I saw a new furniture store in Fort Wayne pop up on Twitter. They did about 4 tweets including pictures of some one-of-a-kind pieces that caught my attention. They mentioned their hours in another tweet and invited people to stop in.
One thing was missing however.
Their location was not listed in their twitter profile. No one is going to come to your store if you don’t tell them where you are. I sent them a tweet and they fixed it along with adding a link to their website.
I realize that there are people who are still new to using social media and I see a lot of the same mistakes over and over again. With that introduction, here are 3 Social Media Marketing Musts you need to do right now:
- Fill out your profile completely. Every social media channel gives you opportunities to help others find out more about you. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, all of them offer a combination of important items that your followers want to know so they can check you out. Address, especially if you have a physical location. Website, phone number, email address, fill them all out. Include appropriate pictures too.
- Post updates regularly. Update Facebook every day you are open. Tweet a few times a day. If you are on LinkedIn, share some articles or updates at least once a week.
- Listen and respond. Social media is a two way conversation. When someone comments on something you posted, set up an alert so you can answer and reply back. The worst thing you can do is ignore them. You can create negative perceptions of you and your business by ignoring those who say something to you via Social Media.
Earlier this week I shared this link on How To Create A Social Media Marketing Plan From Scratch which is filled with lots of helpful info and details.
Want help? Ask me.
by Scott Howard | Jul 28, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World
#SMBFW
The title of this article, Online Advertising: Where To Start was inspired by Kevin Mullett. Kevin has been a friend and at one time a co-worker for several years. Last week he told me that the working title for today’s Fort Wayne Social Media and Marketing Breakfast was Online Advertising: Where To Start and he asked if I would sit on the panel. 
I said yes.
(The actual title of the event was changed to: Online Advertising: Let’s Do This!)
I also told him that in preparation, I’d write this article and publish it today.
Some of this I may have the opportunity to bring up in person, but even if I don’t, or you are not at the event, you’ll have my thoughts if you keep reading.
Online Advertising: Where To Start is a subject that a lot of people need guidance on and I have been there myself.
We are going to assume that you have a business. Or you at least have a business in mind. If you want to know the steps to take your idea into a full fledged business, start by reading this.
Now on to the topic at hand. 
In order to do online advertising, you need a website. Not just any website, but a domain that you own. You can host it in the “cloud”, but unless you have access to the primary domain and can control all the content, you probably don’t have your own website. This was something that Kevin Mullet convinced me of nearly 5 years ago.
I had over 12,000 articles published on various blogger sites I set up for free on Google’s platform. I really needed my own site so I would not be subjected to the whims of Google making changes. First I bought domain names but then I jumped in and created this site at ScottHoward.me.
You need your own website with your own domain name.
The following don’t count as your own website with your own domain name:
- A Facebook Page. Even though Facebook is moving towards this business model, this is not a substitute for your own website with your own domain name.
- An Etsy.com site. Not really yours.
- A Tumblr page. Nope. Sorry.
- Just about any social media account is not your own website with your own domain name, so don’t fool yourself or cut corners.
What about a WordPress site? There are differences between a site that is hosted by WordPress.com and a site built with WordPress.org but those differences are changing. Best for you to do your own research at places like here and here.
Okay, so you understand: You need your own website with your own domain name.
Your website needs to be mobile friendly. Right now the best way to do this is to make sure your website is built with a responsive website design. Responsive websites are called that because they adjust they layout of the design of your site to fit the screen you are using to view that site. If you are on your smartphone or tablet, it will render appropriately and look a bit different than if you are viewing the site on your laptop or desktop computer.
Why does mobile friendly matter? Take a look here and you’ll see that mobile has surpassed desktop/laptop as the way adults are accessing the web. And Google will penalize your organic search rankings if you are not mobile friendly.
Why does all of this matter?
You need a place to send people when you advertise online.
Again:
You need a place to send people when you advertise online.
That place should be your website, and only your website.
Nearly everything else should be a tool to drive traffic to your website.
I’m talking about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube… you name it and I’ll tell you it should be a tool to get people to your website.
“But what about my Etsy store?”
You can keep your Etsy store alive but You need your own website with your own domain name and from there you can link and send them to your Etsy store.
Advertising online is the payment of money for advertising that appears online.
And now that we have established a place to send people who see your online ads, lets look at the options.
Search Engine Marketing is the big money maker for Google. Those ads you see at the top and side of a Google search are profitable for both Google and the businesses that use this tactic. Google will sell these to you directly or you can hire professionals and get the benefit of their experience and expertise.
The number of people who click on ads is tiny. But, it can be very profitable. I’ve heard the expression it’s like crack, once an advertiser tries it and the campaign is properly managed, they’ll be hooked because of the results. This is one of the marketing solutions I can offer through my companies digital department.
Display Ads have been around forever it seems. Technology has made it possible for them to become so much more effective than they were originally. There are ways to target the ads precisely to the people who are interested in the product or service and not display them to people who are not your target.
Depending on who you use to run your campaign, a number of tactics can be used to locate the targets you want to invite. Retargeting is the general term that started this. Retargeting began with placing a cookie or pixel on you computer web browser when you visited a website. Then as you visited other websites, ads would follow you around.
Now we can also target you based on what you search for, not just the search engines like Google, but other sites that have search like WebMD or CNN and the like.
A third way to find you is contextually. We know what you are reading and based on the keywords that are in the stories and headlines you are reading online, you can be served online ads.
Now there is a fourth way to find you based on where you are. Geo-Fencing can now be so precise that if you cross a street, and step into a “Geo-Fence” we know. And we can serve ads to you based on where you go and where you have been.
Almost sounds scary, but it’s an excellent tool for advertising online, to reach only the people you want to target. Again this Custom Audience Targeting with Display ads. is another marketing solution I offer through the digital department of my company.
This same technology is also available with video. We call it Video Audience Targeting.
Some of this you can do on your own on sites like Facebook. I used to manage the social media for an internet based retailer and would spend a few thousand dollars a month on Facebook advertising. That company I worked for spend over 1 million annually on all of their online advertising.
Want help? Have questions? Ask me.
Oh, that #SMBFW hashtag at the beginning of this article? That’s the hashtag we use for the Social Media & Marketing Breakfast Fort Wayne. And I put it there so anyone following that hashtag during the event or afterward, would find this article. That’s another way of online marketing that was free.
by Scott Howard | Jul 23, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, ScLoHo's Web World
Earlier this year, Google warned us that websites that they deemed not-mobile friendly would suffer a decline in their search engine organic results.
Now we have data from Mediapost that shows us why this is important.
The takeaway is simple. People are searching the web from their phones and tablets and if your website is hard to navigate on those devices, your credibility will suffer.
It’s not that hard to bring your website up to todays standards with a responsive web design. And it’s one of the services my company offers at Federated Digital Solutions. Contact me for a quote.
by Scott Howard | Jul 22, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
I rarely rant publicly about stuff like this. Oh, I used to… a few years ago I called out Arby’s and JC Penney. It got some attention. But today, I’m going to do it again and this time Panera Bread’s online marketing department is getting my attention.
Over the weekend I received an email from Panera urging me to use a reward I earned. It was $5 off an order and expired on July 21st. So Tuesday my scheduled meetings allowed me to visit Panera for lunch. $5 off would mean about half off.
The email
I stopped in at noon, they swiped my Panera key fob and I placed my order. But there was no discount. They checked and said the reward was only for online orders. I missed that detail. My fault.
A little disgruntled but hungry, I went ahead with my order. As I was eating, I thought, what can I order online before I leave to take home? So I checked.
My online rewards dashboard
See the Order Online link in the upper right corner? I clicked it and here’s what I got:
Looks like No Soup For You!
Okay, Panera, this is bad. Most people will not speak out about this circle of marketing failure. But then, I’m not like most people.
I have worked fulltime in internet marketing and I know that sometimes those IT people don’t communicate with the marketing people. But they should. And unless your website is really broke, don’t do “system maintenance during your prime time busy hours. Do it overnight on the weekend. Not lunchtime on a weekday.
End of rant.
As a side note:
This week I am organizing an email campaign for one of my advertising partners that kicks off in August that was pretty simple. And I’m also organizing another online campaign that includes weekly email offers, a text club offer, YouTube video mentions and social media contesting with Facebook and Twitter in addition to radio ads on WOWO. We’ll kick this off next month for a local movie theater.
Both of these will be fun, not frustrating.
by Scott Howard | Jul 15, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
See this picture?
My daughter shared it on her Facebook page Monday night. Actually she shared a post from the Facebook page of the Roanoke Village Inn that included this picture. She and her family lived a few blocks from there before they moved west.
I saw the picture and shared it on Twitter Tuesday morning:
Tuesday evening, I was notified that it was picked up in a story on Mashable.com which you can read here and scroll down a bit.
While this picture went slightly viral, it was a bit of luck and not planning. The Village Inn probably had no idea that the picture went beyond their 742 followers.
There is a marketing lesson for those of you who are trying to “go viral” and hit it big. It’s not likely to happen. Or if it does, it is fate or luck and do you want to bet your business success on that?
For help with a real marketing plan, reach out to me.
And the Village Inn is scheduled to reopen today after spending Tuesday cleaning up, which is good.
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