This shift in power makes it vitally important for brands to entice consumers to want to engage with them. Social media present brands with the opportunity to engage with consumers and get them to spread the brand message. When this is done correctly, social media can turn brand ambassadors into brand evangelists.

With so many platforms available anyone with Internet access can become a publisher through networks like Facebook, Twitter and so many others. Consumers can publish their opinions, experiences and thoughts whilst choosing who they want to interact with. Thus, social media gives consumers the power to have their voice heard.

Social media ties in with other online marketing elements like search engine optimisation (SEO) and online reputation management (ORM) as part of an online marketing strategy. It’s a mistake to think that social media and search are mutually exclusive. Twitter or Facebook profiles and blogs are showing up more frequently on the first page of search engine results, whether the group, fan page or blog is owned by the brand or not. In terms of your “Google CV” it looks good if the group or blog post is of a positive nature, praising the service of a brand, but it is a completely different story when it is negative. For instance on the first page of Google’s search results for “SAA” the blog “SAA Sucks” is listed. This of course is where Online Reputation Management (ORM) is all too important to include as part of your social media campaign strategy.

Unfortunately, social media is not as easy as setting up a Twitter account, creating a Facebook fan page and ticking social media off on your marketing to-do list. Social media requires continuous activity and engagement. Amongst other things, social media platforms can be utilised to execute ORM. For instance, by using search.twitter.com brands can see what is being said about them in the Twittersphere. Vida e Caffé is one of the South African brands using Twitter to their benefit. Others include Virgin Active South Africa, First National Bank and iBurst. These brands use Twitter to respond to questions, complaints, compliments and offer advice.

You don’t have to be everywhere, but it is important to have a presence on the more mainstream social networks like Twitter and Facebook. When a brand decides to engage with its consumers through social media there are a few generally accepted conventions to which one should adhere, for instance:

- Do not spam your readers and followers with marketing messages and promotional offers – Encourage dialogue and be interactive, remember it is a conversation! – Always respond to questions, queries and comments, whether it is good, bad or ugly

When a brand offers valuable content it is sure to see ROI from social media. Social media marketing can be complicated to execute, especially when it comes to closing the loop, maintaining consistency and starting a viral effect. If you would like to know how social media can enhance awareness for your brand as part of an online marketing strategy, contact AlterSage for a consultation.

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Don’t recycle traditional direct mail copy. Even if it was successful.

Understand that the Internet is a completely new medium. The copy that pulled high response rates in the world of direct postal marketing doesn’t get read on the Net. Especially not as email.

Here are the rules to effective email copywriting:

The subject is the headline: Write a succinct subject ‘headline’ – 3 to 5 words. Your subject determines whether your email gets read – or not. Tricky headlines (not related to your message) don’t work. Internet users are smart and they know exactly what they want. They resent being tricked. It’s a tough way to start a relationship.

Make it personal: What exactly is spam? It’s any email message that the recipient deems uninteresting or irrelevant — regardless of who sent it.

People on the Internet want personal notes. Write for an audience of one. Use common conversation, and avoid formal speech. Think of email as a way to service clients, enhance relationships, or tease them into interacting with you.

Remember you don’t have to be making a sale every time you talk to them. Positioning yourself as an expert can keep you at the top of mind for future purchases or better yet, for referrals.

Do feel free to make your e-mail fun and irreverent, if this is appropriate for the customer and the moment.

Don’t be overly casual and risk being disrespectful to your audience with the wrong tone.

Give them an incentive to act: By containing a hook, the e-mail makes it easy for a customer to understand the point of the email. The customer is more likely to respond if the choice is clear: act or don’t act to get the specified benefit. Customers are less likely to act, understand, or otherwise have a good experience, if they have to spend time figuring out the point of the email.

Do refine the hook to express the idea or message clearly and simply.

Don’t rely on jargon or indirect wording to express the hook.

Include a call to action: Tell people what you want them to do. Don’t leave them wondering what to do next. Point them to your ‘most desired action’. Otherwise they may just surf around and forget what they’re trying to accomplish. Then they bail.

If you are providing information, be sure to let them know they can email or call you if they want further information. Leave the conversation open ended and easy to reply to.

Get to the point: Keep it short and simple. Don’t drone on and on for several paragraphs … or pages. People on the Internet want information quickly and clearly. Paragraphs should be no more than 4 – 6 lines. Keep total length under 300 words.

Just as the hook provides focus for the email, so should the rest of the email refer to the hook for focus. For example, an email telling customers that there is a sale on a particular product line on an e-commerce site should do just that — tell customers about the sale.

This same email should not be considered an opportunity to inform customers of every promotion, feature, or tidbit of corporate news. Customers tend to scan emails, and if several propositions are presented, even the hook will go unnoticed.

Do stick to a single subject in the email.

Don’t try to incorporate as many elements as possible.

Do use dashes or bullets to express lists of ideas or section headings.

Don’t require users to read long continuous blocks of text.State the most important things first: Customers will start reading an email from the beginning and read the introduction to see if it’s worth spending more of their time. Readers tend to pay less and less attention to what is written as they scan more quickly through the rest of the email.

To make sure customers read the most relevant information, put the most important information (the hook) at the top, followed by the most important supporting information. Each successive paragraph will receive less and less of the reader’s attention and should contain less and less important information. As soon as the hook is well enough supported, end the email.

Do provide the customer the most important information at the beginning of the email.

Don’t “save up” the key information for the middle or end of the email.

An email must have a good reason for being sent; otherwise it’s better to not send it. The hook of an email is the single thought or message conveyed by that email and should be stated in the first sentence or two.

Use your website: Drive people to your website. Don’t try to close the sale in the email. You want people to have (and ask) more questions. Questions require interaction, and interaction promotes relationships.

Build relationships: Few (if any) customers worth having are interested in a ‘one night stand’. Have a long-term relationship objective in mind. Listen to your customers. Treat them like you’d like to be treated (so long as you’re not a masochist…).

Follow through: Do what you say. Put your hands and feet where your mouth is. Deliver on your offer, because it’s an ever-increasingly small world.

Always offer an option to unsubscribe: Email should only be sent when customers have requested information or if there is something noteworthy to tell them. Even with this level of permission there will still be people who will want to unsubscribe from the email list or newsletter.

Always offer the option to unsubscribe. As an emerging convention, customers can now typically expect to see unsubscribe instruction as the last item at the bottom of the email, following the signature and P.S.

Spell Check: You are positioning yourself as an expert – do not be tempted to send out the email quick. Run spell check! Have someone else read it to see if your message is grammatically correct before you hit the send button!

~ Roxane Leigh offers professional and effective options for online marketing ~

www.theriverofcash.com
604-676-7188

Roxane Leigh is a Marketing VP and Home Business Owner who shares the secrets to making money online.

As a Marketing and Advertising Professional who has been working in Internet related businesses for 12 years, she considers helping people achieve their goals both personal and professional the best part of her job. Her goal is to continue providing people with the knowledge and tools to enhance their businesses and lives, and to help them tap into The River of Cash!

www.TheRiverOfCash.com or 604-676-7188

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Web publicity is perhaps the best way for you to adopt for brand awareness. Smaller and medium enterprises do not have the vast resources available for corporate giants for global or local advertising and publicity. Investments towards enhancing business and growth of service area are the key ideas behind running any successful brand. This is where properly planned e-marketing strategies can help your enterprise gain a market advantage without spending humungous sums off your capital.

But what is the latest e-marketing news? As a small business owner, or a medium enterprise, you must know what the top trend of Internet marketing indicates. Without being informed of the available resources and their worth, it is unadvisable to take any step towards investment. So here is what good web promotion is all about -

Social Media Magic: E-marketers everywhere are adapting to social media as the new jackpot of Internet publicity. People never took social media platforms as anything more than being a way to reach old friends and interact with people. But the phenomenon of social media success has changed market dynamics in many ways. Facebook is perhaps the biggest success stories of the Internet. In a few years, it has replaces even Google as the most popular website. Twitter is all about super fast viral buzz creation. Once people start following your thread of messages, you can promote anything. These are just two of the many other platforms like MySpace, LinkedIn, and Orkut to promote online.

SEO Enhancing Evolution: Social media may be running guns now, but search engines will always be the most popular way to look for information and services online. SEO enhancements aren’t going anywhere, but in fact are now developing more complex dynamics for the new decade of e-branding. Better content production and management, more keyword specification, and location based searches are the newest developments of Internet publicity.

Video Blogging is In: Content and issue blogging is one of the best and oldest among e-marketing strategies, but faster Internet speeds have given us new goodies. Videos were slow in streaming before, but with 4G evolution and super fast wireless connections, even portable devices can access video feeds in clear definition and quick streaming formats. A perfect tool for e-marketers!

Coupons, Discounts, and Offers – Unbeatably Successful: Who doesn’t like the words like ‘free’, ‘discount’, and the likes? Well, the exorbitantly rich perhaps! But for everyone else, the concept of e-coupons, online consumer discounts, and special offers work wonders. You can grab a great deal of attention to your brand when your e-marketing is enhanced with such eye catching offers!

These are the top four e-marketing trends that are working for companies everywhere. Even with a small or medium enterprise, your resources will easily permit you to avail of these services within your budget. If you aren’t convinces, just try a short term trial period with any good e-branding company! The results should speak for themselves. Oh, yes, do keep an eye open for the latest e-marketing news to be aware and informed about what’s in, and what’s old!

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This shift in power makes it vitally important for brands to entice consumers to want to engage with them. Social media present brands with the opportunity to engage with consumers and get them to spread the brand message. When this is done correctly, social media can turn brand ambassadors into brand evangelists.

With so many platforms available anyone with Internet access can become a publisher through networks like Facebook, Twitter and so many others. Consumers can publish their opinions, experiences and thoughts whilst choosing who they want to interact with. Thus, social media gives consumers the power to have their voice heard.

Social media ties in with other online marketing elements like search engine optimisation (SEO) and online reputation management (ORM) as part of an online marketing strategy. It’s a mistake to think that social media and search are mutually exclusive. Twitter or Facebook profiles and blogs are showing up more frequently on the first page of search engine results, whether the group, fan page or blog is owned by the brand or not. In terms of your “Google CV” it looks good if the group or blog post is of a positive nature, praising the service of a brand, but it is a completely different story when it is negative. For instance on the first page of Google’s search results for “SAA” the blog “SAA Sucks” is listed. This of course is where Online Reputation Management (ORM) is all too important to include as part of your social media campaign strategy.

Unfortunately, social media is not as easy as setting up a Twitter account, creating a Facebook fan page and ticking social media off on your marketing to-do list. Social media requires continuous activity and engagement. Amongst other things, social media platforms can be utilised to execute ORM. For instance, by using search.twitter.com brands can see what is being said about them in the Twittersphere. Vida e Caffé is one of the South African brands using Twitter to their benefit. Others include Virgin Active South Africa, First National Bank and iBurst. These brands use Twitter to respond to questions, complaints, compliments and offer advice.

You don’t have to be everywhere, but it is important to have a presence on the more mainstream social networks like Twitter and Facebook. When a brand decides to engage with its consumers through social media there are a few generally accepted conventions to which one should adhere, for instance:

- Do not spam your readers and followers with marketing messages and promotional offers – Encourage dialogue and be interactive, remember it is a conversation! – Always respond to questions, queries and comments, whether it is good, bad or ugly

When a brand offers valuable content it is sure to see ROI from social media. Social media marketing can be complicated to execute, especially when it comes to closing the loop, maintaining consistency and starting a viral effect. If you would like to know how social media can enhance awareness for your brand as part of an online marketing strategy, contact AlterSage for a consultation

AlterSage”>http://www.altersage.com/””>AlterSage offers tailored online”>http://www.altersage.com/online-marketing-services/””>online marketing solutions that achieve targeted exposure for your website. Goal focussed and driven by return on investment, services include search engine optimisation, pay per click advertising, persuasive web copywriting, brand building, conversion analysis and more.

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