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Marketing

Importance of Social Media for Small Businesses

by Mahesh Kukreja on January 30, 2012

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, check out the Guest Post section.

When you are looking to advertise, one of the best and often least expensive ways for any business to advertise is to use social media websites. There are several advantages, outside of price, for using social media as an advertising platform. The first is that your advertising is directed effectively at a group of people who are already interested in your product. Another benefit of using a social media platform for advertising is the one on one interaction you are able to have with your customers.

Social Media for Small Businesses

When you create a Facebook or Twitter account, you can immediately start looking for groups and people with interests that correlate to your products or services. Rather than just throwing advertising out into the internet and hoping for the best, you can look for the people most likely to be interested in what your business is doing or selling. For example, if you are a business that does pet grooming in a certain city, you can not only seek out people who have pets but also people that live in and around the city you do business out of.

Another important part of a social media advertising plan is to ensure that you have a team of people with Twitter and Facebook accounts that can reach out to people who are interested in your business, or have something to say about it. By having someone reply directly to a concern or question about your product or services, people feel that they are being listened to and will be taken care of if they give you their business. Creating this personal relationship over the internet helps to build and grow your customer base.

Something to also consider is the fact that more and more people are voicing their opinions about businesses on social media sites. If something goes wrong with one of your customer’s, and they post about their experience, you want to be sure that you are seen to be replying to them and helping them resolve their issues.

So by building a social media advertising plan, you can grow your business and create personal interactions that will help cement your reputation as a responsive and dependable business.

Author Bio:

The Author is a product manager at Taaza Ads that acts as a solution for sellers, buyers and traders where users can post ads for free describing their products or requirements under appropriate categories. He has been managing Study Nation and has previously been involved with a variety of e-commerce projects in India.

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Making the Connection between QR Codes and Marketing

by Mahesh Kukreja on January 29, 2012

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, check out the Guest Post section.

More and more users are turning to high end mobile technology, taking advantage of the advanced features and functionality available with smart phones. In response to this shift, companies shift towards creative uses of marketing in order to reach their customers. One particular technology that has an increasing presence in marketing is QR codes.

QR Code

5 Creative Uses of QR Codes

A QR code is a type of barcode that is used to store encrypted data. Traditionally used for tracking and ticketing, QR codes have been increasingly seen in marketing endeavors. The following five examples are creative marketing campaigns that utilize QR codes:

Museums and Historical Areas

Museums, art galleries and other historical sites are finding creative ways to mix the new with the old. By placing QR codes next to paintings and statues, tech-savvy art patrons can quickly access more information on the work of art. QR codes can also give visitors an audio and visual tour, further enhancing user experience.

Retail Labels

QR codes are relatively small, rarely exceeding more than several inches in size. Therefore, many businesses and companies have placed QR codes on labels, on a variety of products. Aside from providing information, retail stores can connect QR codes to social media buttons and multimedia, further expanding customer experience. From clothing to bottles, coffee cups to e-commerce goods, QR codes can be applied nearly anywhere.

Promotions and Free Offers

The word “free” sends a signal to any customer, causing them to flock to the business in question. Therefore, embedding promotions and free offers in a QR codes is an extremely effective way to market the business and brand. One example is to place a QR code in an advertisement or an exclusive email, offering free content to the first several hundred who access the code. This particular use of QR codes is versatile, and can be utilized by a wide range of companies and businesses.

Scavenger Hunts

Similar to the above, a giveaway or prize at the end of a contest is an opportunity for businesses to market to customers. QR codes work particularly well with scavenger hunts, and motivate customers to travel and visit places they normally would not go. Examples of QR codes in scavenger hunts take place in multiple retail stores or in viral marketing campaigns. Scavenger hunts can be a great way to engage and interact with customers.

URL access

One of the main advantages of the QR code is its accessibility; instead of relying on pen and paper, customers can simply scan the QR code to gain access to information. Businesses can utilize this feature in a variety of ways, such as displaying QR codes on storefronts, billboards and ads. By causing the QR code to redirect to a website, businesses can prolong customer experience.

At the moment, QR codes are limited by whether the user possesses a smart phone or some sort of QR scanning technology. However, as more and more users adopt smart phones, the marketing potential of QR codes will continue to rise.

Author Bio

Rachel Hyun Kim is a writer on topics ranging from background checks to payroll services. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including telemarketing services for small business owners and entrepreneurs at Resource Nation.

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Marketing and Brand Promotion via Tumblr

by Mahesh Kukreja on October 24, 2011

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, check out the Guest Post section.

Tumblr has become an important blogging platform and has surpassed WordPress with more than 29 million blogs and millions of posts each day. It has become too important and we can ignore it if you are doing an online promotion and branding campaign.

Tumblr

[Photo via Flickr]

Some tips on helping you use Tumblr are mentioned here.

Tumblr should be used as an add on to original content

Due to its nature, Tumblr can serve as a repository of digital information. You can post content by others on your own and this can be used to create a databank for all things related to your industry. This should be complemented by original content and businesses can use this as an add-on to their websites and wordpress blogs.

You should like and comment on the content posted by others in your space

When someone posts content, you can like it or comment on it. This provides you with a link at the bottom and users can visit your page from that link. If you comment or repost the post, it is promoted virally and you get exposure and traffic.

This also promotes relationships and builds the network.

Post a link to your original post

When you write a new post, include a link that confirms you as a source. When this content is reposted, you get links and exposure and it has a compounding effect on the brand promotions.

Tag your Posts

Always provide relevant tags to your posts so that they are indexed and can be found when searched. This helps in social marketing and people can find you on the basis of tags.

Focus on themes while creating the blog

When creating a blog, focus on a theme. This creative venture can be used to post funny and humorous content which entertains. Entertaining content always has an audience.

Post quotes from your content on the website or blog

You can post short notes or quotes from your original content available elsewhere. This repost will increase the visibility of that post and people will ultimately visits the source and that is the idea. A new untapped audience helps.

About the Author

Catherine Jones writes for http://www.markmitsuglendale.com/. She enjoys content and writing about the social sphere.

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Top 5 Affiliate Networks For Online Merchants & Internet Marketers

by Mahesh Kukreja on October 4, 2011

This is a guest post! If you want to write for us, check out the Guest Post section.

Affiliate Marketing is one of the many primary ways through which you can earn some quality cash on the Internet. The system works by selling the products via your site and you will earn some commission based on the amount of sales that you make. The affiliate quality also depends on your website and its theme. You cannot sell health products on a technical blog.

Affiliate Marketing is also a good way to promote products for merchants. Online merchants who want to advertise about their products can register to the following affiliate networks to get a good online presence and in turn increase their sales.

Affiliate Marketing

Here are top 5 affiliate networks for merchants as well as Internet marketers:

1. E-Junkie

E-Junkie is one of the oldest and best players in the affiliate industry. You can earn an impressive amount of commission by selling their products. The network provides you with certain skills and training so that you can better market your products. This affiliate lets you sell downloadable products like ebooks, MP3s, fonts, etc and tangible goods like T-shirts, CDs, posters, etc.

E-Junkie releases its payments at the end of the month and uses PayPal as its main payment gateway.

2. Affiliate Window

Affiliate Window is based in the United Kingdom. This affiliate network mainly deals in luxury items such as perfumes, cosmetics and other accessories. The network boasts of some of the best brands in the business and provides excellent products and discounts. The network has been rated as the best network in UK and other reviews of it has been good. The website uses multiple payment gateways and pays out only once in the month.

3. Commission Junction

Commission Junction is one of the leading affiliate networks in the world today. This network boasts of dealers all across the globe. The network has been in this business for more than 10 years and has all the major international brands like Oriflame, Nike and other under its roof. The network has sorted its products according to the brands and categories so that it is easier for you to understand.

Once you’ve applied to join Commission Junction, then need to apply to join some of the many programs that run within it. Each advertiser in the system has its own program and if you wish to promote its products you apply to do so. Once your application is approved you are then able to use links provided to promote their products.

4. ShareASale

ShareASale is an excellent affiliate network as it is in this affiliate business for more than 12 years. The network has more than 3000 dealers that deal in products and services across various genres. This network has been rated as number 1 network in United States. ShareASale provides products ranging from Automotive to Health & Insurance.

ShareASale has tools which help to share products on Social media sites. When you create a unique internal product link, you can get a shortened link, and it comes with it’s own social media sharing bar which appears above the page. That way if a visitor likes the product link, informational link or whatever it is, that visitor can share the link with others on Social Media without shortening it themselves.

5. Amazon

Amazon is one of the well-known names in the Silicon Valley. Amazon Associates network is based on the shopping mart style of selling where you can purchase and sell the products like you do in a shopping mart. You can get affiliate links from Amazon and place them on your site or blog. The company pays up to 4-6 percent commission for every product that you sell. The network has a variety of products across a number of categories.

I recommend Amazon’s affiliate program because Amazon is a trusted brand. Also, people tend to buy more than one item from sites like Amazon. Amazon shows related products while checking out. If the product interests buyers, they won’t hesitate to buy it. This means you get commission for that extra product also. And Amazon has a pretty neat interface for getting banners & affiliate links. Also, integration with WordPress blogs is easy with the help of plugins.

Conclusion

If you master Affiliate marketing then you are sure to make some quality bucks every month. I know webmasters who make $2000 – $3000 per month. Other people might be earning even more.

My advise to you is to choose the affiliate niche wisely & join the appropriate affiliate network. If you know or are working with affiliate networks other than the ones listed above, please be kind to share the knowledge by commenting below.

Author Bio

The author works for Techinlien. It is a recognized remote support application which allows IT support staff to provide professional and responsive technical support to new and existing clients via the internet. By utilizing Techinlien, helpdesk staff are able to reduce costs and difficulties associated with verbally explaining difficult troubleshooting instructions to novice computer users.

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