Attract Consumers Online to Get Them In Stores

Many companies do not recognize the in-store benefits of online promotions. A newly released study from Wanderful Media shows that 91 % of the 1,000 US adults surveyed “have gone into a store as a result of an online experience.” Some examples of these multiple online experiences are email promotions, coupons, and online ads. E-mail has proven to be the most common channel for sending consumers into stores. While in stores, 77% of respondents said that they had only gone online to check prices or other product specs. Most of this group was Millennials (nearly 85%) and the majority of these people used smartphones while some used tablets.

This study shows that consumers prefer to search online on search engines to look up their product so they know “exactly what was being purchased.” Stores could easily use online promotions to drive consumers to their own brick and mortar locations. 

Source: http://marketingland.com/survey-91-percent-have-gone-into-stores-because-of-online-promotion-28796

Who's really using online coupons?

According to a new study by RevTrax, a digital coupon marketing provider, more affluent consumers are more likely to use online coupons than lower income consumers. RevTrax identifies the leading locations and demographic trends ties to digital coupon activity. The data from this study was collected in Q2 2012 and was based on millions of online transactions.

This study named five top demographic categories that stood out as “most likely to use digital coupons.” The following are the categories:

Many companies assume that low-income consumers are most likely to use digital coupons. This study showed that “areas with higher income levels use the most digital coupons, activating nearly 100% more coupons than those at or around the media income level.”

 

Many companies could benefit from using online coupons. It’s a smart Internet marketing strategy for businesses with a higher-income target market!

Source: http://marketingland.com/study-affluent-consumers-more-likely-to-use-digital-coupons-than-lower-income-groups-28766

Facebook Do's

I stumbled upon an informative blog post by internet marketing blogger Tiffani Frey, who regularly publishes a daily blog on Paper.li. Frey reminds small business owners that what may work on a personal level on Facebook does not always work the same in a business setting. Being a college student who has both a personal Facebook and multiple professional pages under my management, I can vouch for this fact! Many business savvy people attempt to create a social media  presence online and fail to realize that their professional page must be handled differently than their personal page. For example, people following Target on Twitter don't want to know about the troubled love life of Target's underpaid social media intern... in short-- personal overshares are frowned upon in the social media world. Not only in business, but in general. 

In her blog post, Frey advises businesses on Facebook to:

• Ask for action on every post

I agree that admisistrators should encourage users to post, comment, share, or like their posts, but I don't believe that ALL posts must have a call to action. Users will not like or comment on every status, and continually asking them to do so may become annoying to make them feel as if their interaction is being undervalued and seen as quantity versus quality. It is essential to encourage dialogue on your Facebook wall, but demanding users provide all of the content for your social media profile may be asking for too much. 

• Use Facebook Insights

Over the last 5 years, Facebook Insights has grown on me. In it's earlier stages, I truly considered it useless, as it used to only provide general numerical information versus the more detailed information that it offers now. Using Facebook Insights can be a helpful took in tracking who is seeing your posts, where they are located, and how far your reach actually spans. It is also helpful when developing content for your page as you can see what users are interested in and interacting with the most. 

• Be consistent

This is the key to developing a strong online brand identity. You need people (REAL PEOPLE), not automated posts to make your page a success. Your page should be alive and maintained on a daily basis. Also, it is important to realize that consistency doesn't mean repetition. Don't spam your readers with the same old post or same anticlimactic contests every week. Feel free to make changes and liven up your content choices. 

These are just a few helpful tips to gain positive traction on your professional Facebook page. 

Frey's blog post: http://community.paper.li/2012/08/23/facebook-for-business-10-dos-and-donts/

Attack of the Apps

As of today, one in five phones in the world are smartphones. And on these smartphones, there are apps. What are apps? Well, they are named for their file extension, .app and first became prominent in 2008 as a way for smartphone users to connect with their favorite brands online as well as gain access to information online.

Who is using these apps? To give some perspective, the average American has over 28 apps on their smartphone. Out of these apps, normally at least 6 were paid for. 55% of smartphone users use their apps to access their many social networks on a daily basis and a large portion on these users are known for their multitasking skills. Smartphone apps are slowly but surely changing mobile etiquette as we know it.

Most people don't leave their home without their smartphone. Many users check their smartphone right before bed and first thing in the morning when they wake up. People are using their smartphones when they drive, go to the bathroom, and even when they are in social situations where they could actually be talking to people in real time. Apps may actually be taking over the world...

So, how can you use apps to market your business via the internet and mobile devices? There are a ton of ways to utilize our generations new addiction to better your business. Many businesses have their own apps, which boost sales and provide mobile advertising on the go. Other businesses are taking the time to build up their online reputation so when users search on apps like Yelp and UrbanSpoon, their brand is able to gain exposure and momentum in the marketplace.

Apps are also a great source of income. Although many app creators have issues engaging customers initially, when an app takes off in this heavily saturated market it gains momentum quickly, building brand awareness. Apps can make money through sales in the app store, a free subscription supported app, a free app with in-app purchases, or as a free ad-supported app.

Smartphone apps are a must-have for upcoming businesses that have a large presence online! Apps are used by a significant amount of mobile phone users and they are easy to make. In such a large marketplace, users have many options. Why not gain exposure for your brand by putting an app into the market for consumer use? Everyone's doing it... you probably should too!

Pin with Purpose

Most Millennials have heard of Pinterest. If you haven't yet discovered this dynamic Internet marketing tool, you should take the time to check it out. Getting a Pinterest account is fairly simple. You must first sign up to be invited to Pinterest or be invited by a friend. It normally only takes up to 2 weeks to get invited to create an account.

Once invited, you create an account and start to build your collection of pin boards. You can then add photos to your boards or follow others' boards that are relevant to your personal interests. Many users follow boards that correspond to their hobbies, like home decorating, DIY crafting, and cooking. Other popular pin boards on Pinterest involve pictures of clothes, weddings, pets, and photography.

Pinterest is addictive for many users. It is simply designed and has an endless scrolling feature that makes it easy for users to stay on Pinterest for long periods of time. There is also plenty of space on Pinterest for all of its users' content. This site allows users to pin about their hopes and dreams, sometimes even escaping from day to day life and taking time to make plans for the future. Pinterest is accessible 24/7 online and users can get a quick self-esteem boost as others take the time to follow their personal pin boards.

In today's world, we are largely visual. We love to connect with one another through images and Pinterest offers a unique opportunity to both connect with friends and businesses online to show your personality and style. Pinning with purpose will help create higher recognition for your brand online, and those that follow your pin boards will often be those that are your ideal client. Pinterest can aid you in knowing what your client wants, can offer valuable information and insight into consumer dreams and desires, and serve as a personality platform for your brand to shine through your inspirations, ideas and advice.

If you pin, just keep these simple rules in mind to ensure you pin with purpose!
1) Be respectful of the Pinterest community.
2) Be authentic and take the time to show consumers what your brand is all about.
3) Credit your sources!

Start pinning with purpose today!

Just Add Drama

This weekend I stumbled upon an incredible marketing campaign by TNT called "Just Add Drama." It is possibly the most awesome interactive marketing stunt I've seen to date. This stunt is Internet related in the fact that it was recorded and became a viral video overnight, drawing in over 37,948,450 unique views in the 7 months it has been available on YouTube. 

TNT was preparing to launch its high quality channel in Belgium, but there was little to no brand recognition for TNT amongst the local peoples. In an effort to reach these unsuspecting consumers, TNT placed a "Push to Add Drama in the middle of a small town square and awesomeness happened!

The link to the "stunt" is below and you should watch it! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=316AzLYfAzw

I thought that I would share this interactive viral video campaign in hopes that it provides some inspiration for struggling online marketers!

1 square, 2 square, 3 square, FOUR!

Need a new way to attract customers to your business? foursquare may be a catalyst for your brand recognition.  foursquare is a popular mobile app that is all about where consumers go. Invented by two college students, Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai, in an effort to make something interactive for busy consumers on the go, this app has over 25 million users in the United State alone! With over 2.5 billion check-in's so far and over 1 billion businesses using  foursquare to promote their services, this app is on its way to being relevant for most businesses with a brick and mortar location.

 foursquare is easy to use and user updates are added immediately. All updates stay live on each user's profile for up to 2 weeks after the time of the check-in.  foursquare is highly visual and allows other consumers to see who is going to what businesses and how often they are going. It is common knowledge that customers want to go where other people are going and want to interact with a brand that other people are interacting with. This social element of  foursquare is what is keeping consumers engaged and interested in this app. Because it is all about customers and their opinions, it is easy to see that this app provides relatively transparent information from frequent visitors to various businesses.

 foursquare can be easily used by businesses both large and small, national and local. To claim your business online, just search for your listing and apply to be recognized as the manager of that location. From there,  foursquare will call you to verify that you are the business manager or supervisor of that location. Once your business profile is live, you will have the option to specialize deals for your location and have access to customer information through your personalized "Merchant Dashboard". This dashboard measures consumers total check-ins, average check-ins per day, gender, age, and location of customer base and the most popular times of day to run promotions. The benchmarking tools available on  foursquare are very useful and provide insights as to who is coming to your location and why they are visiting or continue to come back.

Once you have created your business profile, you can start creating specials for your customers that use  foursquare. You can add discounts, freebies, and loyalty specials to give customers an incentive to try your services for the first time or to reward those that regularly visit your business. The customer that is the most frequent patron of your business is known as the "Mayor" of your business on  foursquare and can have a large influence over how consumers view your brand.

As a business on  foursquare, you can have a page, like button, share with  foursquare button, and Partner badges. These marketing tools can be used in a myriad of ways to attract more consumers to your business. So, want to know who is coming to your business and what they think of your services? Download  foursquare on your mobile phone today to start engaging with your mobile consumers!

'Erry Day I'm Tumblr'n

This week, I learned a bit about Tumblr in my Media Planning class. I found the information useful and relevant to this class as Tumblr can be used as an online marketing tool for both large and small businesses.


So, you may be wondering-- what is Tumblr? Tumblr is a blogging interface that was developed by David Karp in 2007. By 2011, Tumblr's user base grew by 900%, making it one of the most popular blogging platforms for users under the age of 25. It is a unique platform that is simple to use, and is largely visual in nature. Tumblr also is smartphone friendly. 

• Use short, highly visual blog posts. Catch other Tumblr users' attention!

• Forward your posts to Facebook and Twitter. Consistency and coverage are vital to the success of any online campaign. 

• Download the free Tumblr app for your smartphone so you can stay engaged on the go. 

• Don't be afraid to be creative! Users love a company that has personality!

Tumblr's audience is composed of a diverse group of individuals, 50% of which are 25 or under. Tumblr rates in the top 5 blogging platforms when averaging the amount of time that users spend on the site each time they visit. Although Facebook is still #1 in that regard, Tumblr has still been able to attract a huge following, including celebrities like Lady Gaga, Zooey Deschanel, and various other musicians and fashion designers. 

Tumblr allows people to connect with each other through images and tags. Users can follow other users with similar interests, creating their own relevant content stream that appears on their dashboard. Tumblr disperses content at a rapid rate, including photos, videos, gifs, and short statements from users. 

Many companies are currently using Tumblr as a marketing tool. Huggies is a successful example. It's Tumblr blog has successfully created a "lifestyle" around their brand. Users are encouraged to post cute images of their kids or short anecdotes about how Huggies have helped them through the many messes in life. The content produced on their blog is indexed by search engines and has greatly increased Huggies's search visibility online. 

Tumblr is a great online marketing tool for businesses who are already producing or are able to produce visual content. Tumblr can help to increase overall brand awareness and help a business engage with its users more creatively online. 

Want to start using Tumblr to promote your business? Here's some advice: 

YouTube's Untapped Marketing Potential

I'm in Media Planning this semester and was doing some research on great untapped media outlets that have multiple marketing opportunities for both large and small businesses. In researching the marketing opportunities available on YouTube I've come to the conclusion that YouTube is not only awesome-- it's a valid marketing tool for both large and small businesses alike. 

For those of you that aren't "YouTubers", YouTube is a video sharing website that is free for users. Over a billion people watch YouTube every day due to it's easy user interface and awesome content. Over 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, and over 8 years of content are uploaded every day. It would take you over 600 years to watch all of the content on YouTube, and that time is lengthening by the minute. 

YouTube's viewership is growing, both online and through mobile streaming on smart phones and tablets. All ages and demographics are present on YouTube, with the 18-44 demographic representing 56% of YouTube's daily viewers. 55% of daily users are male and 45% are female. 

So, how many ways can YouTube be used as a marketing outlet? SO MANY WAYS.

YouTube offers marketing services through:

• Channels

• TrueView Ads

• In-Stream Ads

• Mobile Ads

• Homepage Ads

• YouTube First Watch

• Display Ads

• YouTube Analytics

• Custom Solutions

• YouTuber Endorsements

By using YouTube's various marketing tools, it is possible to reach your target market in several ways to maximize impressions online. By using any combination of the aforementioned marketing tools, businesses can take control of their online presence and engage with their online audience in new ways that promote active listening and overall communication between the business and its consumers. 

Many large businesses are already using YouTube and gleaning positive results. Ford ran a YouTube campaign for the Ford Fiesta that was wildly successful. They chose 100 influential YouTube celebrities and gave them a Ford Fiesta for a year to complete "missions" in their community and share their experiences with the Fiesta. This campaign made over 52% of consumers aware of the Ford Fiesta, even if they had never bought a Ford vehicle before. This amount of reach and online influence was instrumental in the success in sales of the Ford Fiesta.

YouTube is a greatly untapped resource that could help both small and large businesses achieve their online marketing goals whilst showing the brand's personality and creativity.

Are social media stereotypes true?

Most twenty-somethings think they know everything about social media. I mean, most college kids basically live on Facebook or Twitter. We all recognize certain social media stereotypes that are widespread in the digital world: Facebook is for high school and college kids; LinkedIn is for old businessy-type people, Twitter is for loud-mouthed youth,

This week the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project issued a report that revealed who is really using which social media-- and yes, some of the stereotypes proved to be true. The findings of this study are as follows:

• 58% of US Internet users that earn up to $50,000 per year are typically found on LinkedIn, while only 7% of those that earn less than $30,000 annually. 
• 56% of Internet users 50 year old or older are using Facebook.
• 19% of female Internet users are on Pinterest, compared to only 5% of male Internet users.

These stats represent over 1,005 US adults (799 of whom identified themeselves as Internet users) that were called by the Pew Research Center's phone survey team between August 2-5, 2012.

Additionally, Pew asked about 6 different social media outlets-- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr-- and discovered some of the following data:

• 66% of the surveyed Internet users use Facebook. The gender spread of users on Facebook is close to even, with female users slightly above male users. The largest age group on Facebook is ages 18-29, closely followed by the 30-49 age group. Annual household income wasn't a huge determining factor for FB users, and neither was their education level. 
• 16% of the surveyed Internet users use Twitter. The gender spread of users on Twitter was fairly similar, with just a few more male than female users. The largest age group on Twitter is the 18-29 category. Users with an annual household income of over $75,000 per year are more likely to use Twitter than those with a lower annual income. Lastly, most Twitter users have had some college education in comparison to those that only have a high school education.
• 20% of the surveyed Internet users use LinkedIn. Both male and female users are on LinkedIn. Users who make more than $75,000 per year are more likely to use LinkedIn, as are users who have graduated college. 
• 12% of the surveyed Internet users are on Pinterest. Mainly women use Pinterest in the 18-29 age category. Most of these users make between $50,000 -$74,999 per year and have some college education. 
• 12% of the surveyed Internet users are on Instagram. Both men and women use Instagram and are mainly in the 18-29 age group. Most of these users make over $75,000 per year and have some college education.
• 5% of the surveyed Internet users are on Tumblr. Far more women use Tumblr than men, and most users fall into the 18-29 age category. Most users earn between $30,000 -$49,999 annually and have some college education.

This type of survey can shed light on previously unfounded social media stereotypes and is helpful for marketers in that they can figure out the social profile of their consumers and takes steps to integrate that information into their business's social media plan. In many cases, older users are online and can be reached effectively through social media marketing efforts. So, it isn't just high school and college kids on social media-- it's everyone!

Hey y'all,

I'm McKenzie McCart. I'm an Integrated Marketing Communications Major with minors in Communication Management Design, Legal Studies, and Sociology. As graduation looms ever closer, I find that I'm conflicted about what I want to do with my life. After much contemplation and general angst, I think I've decided that I want to do a little bit of everything: marketing, event planning, PR, design, etc. I'd love to work in the arts or with creative people, and I love to help small businesses find their footing online. =D

In the past, I've had several internships in the marketing realm. My first marketing internship in 2009 was for The Ocean Club, a spa and resort in NC where I designed their websites and worked with them to create printed marketing materials to send to both clients and perspective clients.
(www.ocspanc.com & www.youroceanclubwedding.com)

The next summer, I worked at a massive B2B, Commercial Web Services, a division of the much larger (and more intimidating) Dominion Enterprises. At CWS I worked with a small team that managed the companies CRM database and helped develop their new Dealer Management System (DMS). I spent a ton of time on the phone interacting with clients and in meetings learning the best ways to train clients to use CWS products effectively.

More recently, I worked with a Social Media Consulting firm (SOMEGO) in Washington, D.C. creating custom SMM plans for D.C. businesses and the federal government (Dept. of Education). Our team was incredibly small and incredibly close, and we basically jumpstarted SOMEGO and cornered the social media marketing in D.C.
(www.rivasolutionsinc.com)

Most recently, I was a marketing and PR intern at FashionMode PR in Shoreditch, London. At FM, I got the chance to meet designers, go to London Fashion Week, and work creatively with the Business Manager to launch an online store for FM's in-house label, OSHUN. I finally got the chance to work with other interns (YAY!) and work with some ladies for a change. =)

After all of the different experiences I've had in the wonderful world of marketing, I'm excited to take this class and bring my experience full circle. There is always something new to learn about online marketing and social media. In this day and age, you really can't know too much about the Internet and how to use it to your (or your businesses) advantage.

See you in class!
-McKenzie

www.twitter.com/mckenziewmccart
www.linkedin.com/in/mckenziewallmccart