Recent Posts
02/08/2010
Twitter & Social Marketing - SEO Forces to be Reckoned With
Categories: Online Marketing Social Marketing
Twitter now part of Google, Bing and Yahoo Search Results As of recent, search results are showing real-time Twitter results in the organic search results. Google and Yahoo made the announcement on the same day, paying Twitter $15 million and $10 million respectively, to index Twitter’s tweets. Twitter’s search results display the most recent five tweets for your search query, and it will always match the language in which you are searching (i.e. – If you are in Italy, only Italian tweets will show.) Currently, Twitter results are included only for the most …
Read The Rest of This Post02/08/2010
Twitter & Social Marketing - SEO Forces to be Reckoned With
Categories: Online Marketing Social Marketing
Twitter now part of Google, Bing and Yahoo Search Results As of recent, search results are showing real-time Twitter results in the organic search results. Google and Yahoo made the announcement on the same day, paying Twitter $15 million and $10 million respectively, to index Twitter’s tweets. Twitter’s search results display the most recent five tweets for your search query, and it will always match the language in which you are searching (i.e. – If you are in Italy, only Italian tweets will show.) Currently, Twitter results are included only for the most …
Read The Rest of This Post02/08/2010
Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2010
Categories: Marketing Trends
Webolutions is a fully-integrated, strategic marketing agency specializing in helping our clients optimize the highest impact areas of their marketing programs. Below is our list of the Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2010 1. Value – Thought, Leadership, Help, Innovations, Green After a year like 2009, all businesses need to be able to define the value they provide to their customers. Are your prices in line with the value that you provide to your clients? Are you sure your competition has not snuck up on you and is offering somethin …
Read The Rest of This Post02/08/2010
Using Experience Marketing - Selling Your Bouncy Ball
Categories: Experience Marketing
During a recent trip to Disney World®, I saw many great examples of experience marketing. At Webolutions, while working with our clients, experience marketing seems to be one of the more difficult concepts for people to truly understand and it is definitely one of the more difficult marketing practices to implement. Why? The fact is, that this is something that hardly any businesses understand or are willing to do. So, it is more difficult, There is no roadmap. Creating unique experiences around your brand is not like any other form of marketing. It involves truly changing the wa …
Read The Rest of This Post01/26/2010
The Importance of Actively Managing your Online Reputation
Categories: Social Marketing
It is a well known fact that negative word-of-mouth spreads quicker than positive word-of-mouth. With Internet tools such as social media sites and blogging, negative word-of-mouth has more power to influence than ever before. According to the Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study in 2006 done by the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative, only 6% of customers that experienced a problem with a retailer physically contacted them; however 31% went on to tell friends, family or colleagues what happened. As social media becomes a more prevalent way to communicate with friends, family and colleag …
Read The Rest of This Post12/23/2009
Disney: An Experience Marketing Example
Categories: Experience Marketing
During a recent visit to Disney World, I saw some great examples of Experience Marketing which I will be covering in this section of our blog over the next few weeks. After all, Disney’s theme parks are one the ultimate testaments to the concept of Experience Marketing. If all entrepreneurs could somehow capture the passion, vision, imagination and determination of Walt Disney, we would live in a truly amazing world. Let’s break this down a little bit. Disney was first recognized (after several failed business attempts) as an innovator in the world of animation and movies. …
Read The Rest of This Post12/22/2009
Website Redesign SEO - What You Need to Know!
Categories: Online Marketing
If you are considering the redesign of your Website, it is critical to consider the impacts this could have on your existing and future search engine positions. In many cases your business will have an established Website with some decent search engine positions. In order to update your site to a new or fresher look and to include more functionality, you may be considering investing in a Website upgrade. This will usually be a more expensive Website redesign and functional upgrade which includes a CMS, maybe a blog, some sort of Social Marketing and other substantial functionality upgrades …
Read The Rest of This Post12/21/2009
Go Green and Save Your Business Money
Categories: Marketing Trends
Greening your business is easier than you think. By doing a few small things you can save energy and resources and save your company money. The economic and business climate has changed over the past few years. Much emphasis has been placed on the downward spiraling economy and how this affects business owners today. Many small businesses and even corporations are closing their doors after years of hard work and dedication. There are several small steps your business can take to save a few dollars here and there; this will help improve your bottom line. There has also been a lot of …
Read The Rest of This Post12/07/2009
Website Easter Eggs - A Little Can Go a Long Way
Categories: Effective Design & Usability
Not everyone has the budget or the cause for an uber creative Flash site like EinsteinBros.com or the visually stunning JonathanYuen.com but that doesn’t mean your site needs to be dull. Don’t be afraid to spice it up and add little surprises for your users. Take your Website one step further by offering users just a little bit more. Perhaps you can add a little personality like the flying “W” that lives in the Webolutions.com header? Yahoo.com has a hidden gem. Click on the exclamation point in the logo and you’ll hear the Yahoo yodel. …
Read The Rest of This Post12/07/2009
Customizing Products & Brands for Social Media - The Motorola Cliq
Categories: Social Marketing
The holiday season is upon us and electronics are constantly being advertised to consumers as the perfect gift. There was a particular electronic gadget that caught my eye in a commercial being titled as “the first phone with social skills.” I had to check it out for myself. The next day I was at TMobile looking at the brand new Motorola Cliq phone. Being a Social Marketing Coordinator at a strategic marketing company, Webolutions, I was highly intrigued by the socially advanced phone. Only a few short days after seeing the advertisement, I purchased this phone. As I began to p …
Read The Rest of This Post11/17/2009
Giving for Free - Strategic or Silly?
Categories: Marketing Trends
You always hear people say, "there's no such thing as free..." While this may be true in some cases, there are a multitude of exceptions to this antiquated rule. When you're in business, sometimes giving things away for free is beneficial. In fact, many times, giving something away for free can actually save you money. We are fast approaching a time where the consumer expects to get a lot for free. iPhone apps are free, blogging is free, consuming blog content is free, consuming online newspapers is free, tv shows and songs can be downloaded for free, you can …
Read The Rest of This Post11/11/2009
Transparency in Marketing
Categories: Marketing Trends
There is a lot of talk today about transparency in marketing and what this means. A blog post that I recently read defines transparency as, “the degree to which a company shares its leaders, employees, values, culture, strategy, business processes and the results of those processes with its publics. It’s the opposite of opacity, in which companies operate behind closed doors and shuttered windows." (By Shel Holtz of Shel Holtz PC , http://blog.holtz.com/index.php) This definition is as good as any for this post on why marketing transparency is so important for your busi …
Read The Rest of This Post11/09/2009
Online Search Reverse Engineering for Success
Categories: Online Marketing
The successful Online Marketing of a Website requires a very different approach than the conventional marketing techniques used to market most other products and services. Historically products were made, perhaps based on some level of market research, and then they were taken to the marketplace and mass-marketed. To successfully plan, develop and market a Website to the search engines requires a completely different approach. Many factors play a role in where your Website shows up on the search engines. This positioning is critical to most businesses’ success or failure. W …
Read The Rest of This Post11/03/2009
Your Employees are The Brand
Categories: Experience Marketing
Company heads and CEO's nationwide spend hundreds of millions annually, "branding" themselves. They collectively sit and decide who they want to be. They come up with this great idea on exactly who they want and need to be, an idea that is guaranteed to set them apart from the competition. They may even go so far as to redesign their Website and create new collateral materials to show off their new flashy brand. However, when you sit down to brand your company, if this brand is not communicated to, and lived out by each and every single one of your employees - …
Read The Rest of This Post11/02/2009
Usability Testing: Do it Early and Often for a Great Website
Categories: Effective Design & Usability
Usability testing is imperative if you want to take a good site and make it a great site. It will often reveal usability issues that designers, developers and clients will never discover because they are too close to the project and too familiar with the content. Typically, a usability test involves one user who is shown a site or a wireframe and asked to do something or explain what they are looking at. It’s not too complicated. However, usability testing is often cut from Web design budgets for largely two reasons: It’s too expensive It takes …
Read The Rest of This Post10/22/2009
Getting the Most Out of Twitter - A "How To" on #hashtags
Categories: Social Marketing
As social media takes the world by storm, many are feeling left in the dust. Social media continues to influence the world of marketing, and it can be very overwhelming trying to keep up. From a business standpoint, it seems to be difficult to stay ahead of the game. There are many ins and outs to social networking sites which can help you progress in the realm of social marketing. One of the Websites that continues to remain in the forefront of social media is Twitter. Twitter has created a way to tag your tweets and group them together easier. Much like tags on other social networkin …
Read The Rest of This Post09/24/2009
Personalize Your Business Communications - Thank Your Clients
Categories: Experience Marketing
Let your clients know you appreciate their business A few years ago, I moved back to Denver and was looking for a beauty salon that would service all of my beauty needs in one location. It can be challenging to find a full-service salon to meet all of your specific beauty needs, so I asked around for recommendations. I got a personal recommendation from my mom; she really liked the hair stylist at this particular salon, so I went to try it out. Wow, was I impressed with the experience! I walked into the salon, which was located right off of a very busy street in town. …
Read The Rest of This Post09/16/2009
Don't Make Me Think! (Book Review)
Categories: Effective Design & UsabilitySteve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think was popping up in so many “must read” lists, I couldn’t pass it up. This book outlines Krug’s “common sense approach to Web usability,” and is indeed a “must read.” Don’t Make Me Think does not cater only to Web usability professionals. Anyone who manages a Website will find the material to be easily digestible. You do not need the vocabulary of a seasoned Web professional to get value out of this book. The book’s title is also what Krug refers to as, “Krug’s First L …
Read The Rest of This Post09/15/2009
Using SMS Text Messaging for More Than A Good "LOL" - A New Social Marketing Strategy
Categories: Social Marketing
A New Use for SMS Text Messaging: Over the weekend, I helped out at an event in Downtown Denver. This event was a scavenger hunt to win a $15,000 engagement ring donated by a local jeweler. Over 250 couples showed up for the race in hopes of winning the ring. The key to winning the ring was to receive the highest amount of points by a certain time in the day. Now you may be asking yourself, what does this have anything to do with Social Marketing? It is important to note that when couples registered for the event that were required to enter their cell phone number and cell phone car …
Read The Rest of This Post09/14/2009
Call Tracking Services Improve ROI Measurement
Categories: Online Marketing
Most Online Marketing initiatives include some sort of Web analytics. However, many people overlook the critical measurement of the telephone calls received as a result of these efforts. Webolutions’ call tracking solution allows businesses to add a new dimension to their online and offline campaign ROI measurement. Some of this service’s features include: Unique campaign-by-campaign call tracking numbers Dynamic population of tracking numbers throughout your Website, based on the originating campaign Call recording for the monitoring of call conversion qual …
Read The Rest of This Post09/14/2009
Client Relationship Building - Critical to Your Long-Term Business Success
Categories: Marketing Trends
Changes in the world have made Relationship Marketing to your existing client-base more important than ever. Some of these key changes include: Unlimited access to information and options Decreased overall brand loyalty Perceived and actual commoditization of products and services Blogs, rating systems, and other consumer-driven publishing platforms The downturn in the economy The trend towards the personalization of all products and services Never before has the consumer had so much influence over the products and services they purchase. Previously, bu …
Read The Rest of This Post09/14/2009
How Much Are Your Bananas? – An Experience-Based, Pricing Model Case Study
Categories: Experience Marketing
Whether you are selling bananas, professional services, or manufactured goods, the client experience you create dictates the price that you can charge and your overall level of client satisfaction About a year or so ago, on my semi-daily visit to Starbucks, I noticed that they started selling bananas. The cost was .90 each. This seemed pricey especially since bananas are available at every grocery store for quite a bit less. I began to notice that some mornings there were no bananas. When I asked why, they told me that on many of days, the bananas sell out early. Starbucks also has c …
Read The Rest of This Post09/10/2009
When Customer Incentives Become the Expectation
Categories: Marketing TrendsA friend of mine recently moved to Denver and bought a new house. Being new to Colorado, she was unfamiliar with American Furniture Warehouse. As she was perusing the ads a few weeks ago, she was absolutely elated to see that AFW was having a huge Labor Day Sale. I just sort of chuckled to myself, and went on about my day. I figured I would let her stay excited; she'd learn soon enough. What she will come to know, is that AFW is ALWAYS having a sale; there is nothing really special about this particular "Labor Day Sale." Last month it was a "Back t …
Read The Rest of This Post08/19/2009
Is Your Website Usable?
Categories: Effective Design & UsabilityNowadays everybody has a Website. You have to do more than just throw up a site with good content to stand out. You’ve got to start by making your site usable. There is more to Website usability than just ensuring you do not have any broken links. Usability is all about getting your site visitors to the content they are looking for in an easy and intuitive way. You can have the best content in the world but if users have to think too much to move around and find what they want, they will be dissatisfied and go elsewhere. Evaluating Your Site’s Usability Your site is usable if i …
Read The Rest of This Post08/19/2009
Social Marketing: A Channel for Success
Categories: Social Marketing
Social Marketing is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. Many companies are beginning to direct their entire marketing campaigns towards Social Marketing. As a Social Marketing Coordinator at a Marketing/Web Design company, I am very drawn to social Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Just the other day I was at home cleaning with the television on for background noise. I heard some catchy music coming from the TV and looked over at it. On the screen, was a commercial where a series of dancers doing different moves and then pausing several times when they …
Read The Rest of This Post08/13/2009
Increase your Sales by Caring
Categories: Experience MarketingEverybody wants to increase their sales, and is looking for the secret on how to do so. Well, the secret is, there is no such thing. The best way to increase your sales, in my opinion, is really quite simple: CARE; Genuinely Care. Care about your customers. Care about your company. Care about your products/offerings. Care about your coworkers. Simply care. When you truly care, people will know. People like to do business with people that care, bottom line. I went to GNC yesterday to buy a multi-vitamin. I normally don't even shop at GNC, as it seems a little …
Read The Rest of This Post08/10/2009
Efficiency vs. the Experience & Increased Profits
Categories: Experience MarketingWhen evaluating the overall experience you provide to your clients, there is a fine line between the efficiency and speed at which you deliver your products and services vs. the overall interaction you provide. More interaction could lead to a better overall client experience as well as vastly increased profits! Case Study: Lunch at Chipotle I am always amazed at the speed at which the line at Chipotle moves. Like McDonalds, they have a simplified product offering (limited menu and options) and one …
Read The Rest of This Post08/10/2009
Connecting Your Business One Social Network at a Time
Categories: Social Marketing
At this point in time, it is probably safe to claim there is a world-wide obsession with Social Marketing and its importance on daily life operations. It is difficult to go anywhere in today’s online marketplace without noticing a Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Flickr icon. As businesses switch to aim their marketing campaigns through social media, they are trying to use all available networking sites. Most businesses are not just on one of these social networks, but rather as many as they can get their hands on. It is becoming continuously easier to manage the various social network …
Read The Rest of This Post08/08/2009
Product Customization – Are You Keeping Up?
Categories: Marketing TrendsMany companies are finding ways to customize their products and services. This customization allows them to provide an individualized experience for every customer. Customization adds to the novelty of doing business with them, which helps them stand out from their competitors. Below is a list of products and services which illustrate this trend towards increased customization: • Nike & Converse – Design your own shoes …
Read The Rest of This Post08/05/2009
Web Analytic Software - Only Useful if Actionable
Categories: Online MarketingThe key to successfully using Web analytics is ensuring that whatever you are tracking is actionable. It is easy to get bogged down in a huge amount of information provided by these tools. As well, all this information can be manipulated dozens of different ways. Without a plan, it is not uncommon to sit down in a meeting to review your Website analytics information and have everyone heading off in different directions, based on the numbers they relate to in the report. This is complete waste of time. The only informat …
Read The Rest of This Post07/29/2009
Online Design, Evoking Emotions and Influencing Decisions
Categories: Effective Design & UsabilityEvoking Emotions through Effective Design When it comes to our interpretation, "pretty" or "ugly" is determined by many factors. We are not usually aware of them as they influence our sub-conscious reactions. Certain triggers or "aesthetics" in everyday life evoke emotions in us that influence our choices, decisions and reactions. These triggers are not limited to just our vision, but appeal to all of our senses and they happen every minute of every day. To go even further, they can then tap into a personal experience and can influence our emotional responses. I …
Read The Rest of This Post07/27/2009
Social Responsibility - A Growing Marketing Niche
Categories: Marketing TrendsThe world as we know it is changing. The current economic situation has people changing their lifestyles to match these challenging times we are in. Unemployment rate is high and it continues to rise, people are cutting back in a variety of ways, and are conserving in areas of their life that they never considered conserving in before. People are re-evaluating their priorities and consumers are changing their buying habits. Companies that are quick to embrace these changes are going to be more likely to prosper in a difficult economic climate. Today many people are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts and as a result, they are learning to reduce their personal spending. Over time, people will become accustomed to this and eventually learn to appreciate and value a more simplified lifestyle. Living more simply will happily coexist with living smarter. Consumer trends drive profits and shape the marketplace. There is a $230 billion marketplace that exists for products and services that meet the needs of consumers who buy based on their personal, social and environmental values. What can your brand do to ensure it will still be relevant in the changing times? …
Read The Rest of This Post07/27/2009
Advertising Becomes Personal with Billboards that See You
Categories: Marketing TrendsWe live in a “me” society, where everything is on demand, and customized and personalized just for me. I have MySpace, iGoogle, my Yahoo, my iTunes – everything directed towards me, in the way I choose to consume it. I no longer read a print newspaper; instead I simply log onto my Google desktop, and can see my top interest news, specifically in the way I have decided to filter it, and specifically in the order I want it displayed. I no longer listen to the radio, I play my iTunes, which are songs I have chosen to listen to, or Pandora, with specific radio s …
Read The Rest of This Post07/21/2009
We Choose The Moon – A Social Marketing Mission
Categories: Social Marketing“We Choose The Moon” is an interactive Website built by the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of NASA landing on the moon. This site displays a real-time reenactment of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. It went live on July 16th, 2009 at 8:02am and followed the launch at 9:32am. The site is divided into 11 different stages which the Apollo 11 spacecraft went through. It provides a to-the-minute representation of the historic Apollo 11 mission 40 years ago. After July 20th when the Apollo 11 lands, you can re-visit the site and travel through t …
Read The Rest of This Post07/15/2009
Foundations are to Houses what Information Architecture is to Websites
Categories: Effective Design & UsabilityInformation architecture (IA) is where it all begins. It is critical to the success of your new Website. Everything done to build your site is heavily influenced by what is discovered and determined in the IA process. Without these fundamentals, your site will be built on shaky ground. Step 1: Define goals and success metrics All Web projects have to start by defining goals. What do you want your new site to do? Sell more products? Generate interest in your services? Establish your company as a leader? How will you measure the success of your site? …
Read The Rest of This Post05/31/2009
Business Profile vs. Personal Life – For Social Marketing is there really a Difference?
Categories: Social MarketingWith the advent of Social Marketing, more people are asking us where the line should be between their public business profile and their personal online communications. Over the past few months, several people have told me that they have a LinkedIn business profile that they use to post and befriend business colleagues and associates online. They also may have a Facebook page. But, they reserve this for close friends and family. The approach you take to using social networks really just depends on your goals. If you use these social mediums to casually communicate with …
Read The Rest of This Post05/22/2009
Twitter Tips
Categories: Social MarketingTwitter is undoubtedly the fastest growing social medium on the Internet today. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter grew an average of 1,382% from 2008 to 2009. In February 2008, Twitter averaged 475,000 unique visitors; February 2009, it grew to an astounding 7 million unique visitors. As you can see in the graph below, the amount of user’s interacting with Twitter is growing. It now surpasses both MySpace and Facebook. Tips to Marketing on Twitter Twitter is growing at an exponential rate and businesses are beginning to see its value. Itemized below are examples of …
Read The Rest of This Post05/22/2009
Local Search Optimization Strategies
Categories: Online MarketingLocal search results have become prime real estate on the search engine results page. These results are displayed under the sponsored advertisements, pushing the universal search results down. To most business owners’ ranking in the local results, such as Google Maps, is imperative to their company’s online success. Why should local search be a part of your online marketing strategy? Not only does Google Maps prominently showcase local businesses at the top of their search results page, but provides customer reviews about an organization’s products and services. Searchers …
Read The Rest of This Post04/08/2009
Push the Reset Button on Your Marketing Initiatives
Categories: Marketing TrendsThe markets are topsy turvy. The employment and business landscapes have changed. Everything seems to be in somewhat of a state of flux. I heard once that the Chinese word for crisis is, “Opportunity Riding the Dangerous Wind.” I always remember this. I am truly of the opinion that when drastic change occurs, great opportunities arise, at least for those who are looking for them! Are you someone who stops growing your business when times change or someone who refuses to be beat, no matter what? In a recent South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce (www.bestchamber.com) m …
Read The Rest of This Post04/08/2009
The Internal Experience Has to Come First!
Categories: Experience MarketingExperience Marketing is the act of turning regular, ordinary business operations and events into something stimulating, engaging and immersing for the participant. Every interaction with a client, potential client or employee is an opportunity to create an experience! Branded, internal experiences are critical if you expect team members to provide great external experiences for your clients. Krause Kirkpatrick and Bertrand, PC (http://www.kkb-cpa.com) is the region’s only Financial Consulting and CPA firm specializing in the Healthcare industry. As we worked with the princ …
Read The Rest of This Post04/08/2009
Common Misconceptions about Organic Search Marketing
Categories: Online MarketingTime and time again people come to Webolutions with false expectations created by reading substandard blog posts or receive guidance from less than reputable online marketing firms. It is time to clear up the misconceptions and set the record straight: Internet Marketing Takes NO Effort: False - Internet Marketing is time-consuming. I am sure you have all seen the advertisements or spam emails saying, “Make money from home by working on the Internet.” Well, not only are some of them scams, but it isn’t as easy as it sounds. When it comes to search engine optimization and sea …
Read The Rest of This Post04/07/2009
Social Marketing with Facebook
Categories: Social MarketingFacebook is steadily becoming the largest social network on the Internet, with over 175 million active users. Consumers are turning to Internet resources, such as Facebook, when searching for feedback on a company’s products and services. Facebook allows businesses the chance to build customer evangelists, connect with new or existing customers, promote products, participate in conversations, establish credibility in their industry and create brand awareness. Best of all…it’s free! How Do I Use Facebook as a Viral Marketing Resource? Personalize Your Business - The first …
Read The Rest of This Post08/03/2008
Starbucks Marketing Observations
Categories: Marketing Trends
Starbucks current branding, marketing and advertising seems to focus on a “return to our roots” effort. They are refocusing on what has made them such a huge success in the world. Using this as an example, we can identify some keys to marketing success in today’s marketplace. This video focuses on the experience of Starbucks. At Starbuck"s website select, “Discover Our Heritage” then, “In The Beginning”. As you watch this video, pull yourself away from the company itself and focus your attention on the messaging, and the specific language t …
Read The Rest of This Post11/20/2007
When you compete on price you lose
Categories: Marketing Trends
Creating unique, relevant and memorable marketing experiences attract new customers, reawaken the interest of existing customers and generate additional demand for products and services. …
Read The Rest of This Post10/08/2007
The more you give away the more clients you get
Categories: Marketing Trends
When people are shopping for a new product or service they want to make the best choice. They are likely thinking: …
Read The Rest of This Post10/07/2007
The most important question in marketing
Categories: Marketing Trends
In a previous post I talked about asking questions as a way to stimulate ideas. Questions open your mind to possibilities. One question in particular, when asked over and over again, can dramatically improve your company"s long-term profitability. That question is: …
Read The Rest of This Post10/06/2007
People never buy your product or service
Categories: Marketing Trends
Many business owners don’t know what they are “really” selling. Once you understand what your customers are “actually” buying, you have a much better chance of selling them. …
Read The Rest of This Post
