Use Text Messaging to Sign Up for Your Newsletter

Did you know that customers can sign up for you newsletter using text messages? With a simple sign up from Constant Contact, you can make it easy to grow your contact list. Choose a keyword and let your customers text that keyword to a number provided by Constant Contact. They’ll get a text back asking for their email address, and when they send it, they’ll automatically be included in your contact lists. They’ll even get a response thanking them for signing up. (Not using Constant Contact yet? Sign up here.)

Here’s how to get Text-to-Join yourself:

Step 1. Log in to your Constant Contact account.

Step 2. Click “Grow My Contact List” on the right-hand side, in the Contacts Box.

Step 3. Click “Setup Text-to-Join” under Get New Contacts

Step 4. Turn on Text-to-Join by clicking the box toward the top

Step 5. Choose your keyword. Enter it into the Keyword box.

Step 6. On the same page, edit your Request Message.

Step 7. Still on the same page, use the pull-down menu to select which contact list you’d like to save these new contacts.

Step 8. Finally, edit your Thank You Message.

Step 9. Click “Save Changes” button.

Congratulations! You’ve set up your very own text-to-join so now users don’t even need a computer to sign up for your list.

What’s next? Try creating a sign – an image you can use on your social media pages, website, and other media. After you’ve saved your changes,  you’ll be taken automatically to the Create a Sign page. Just fill in your title and subtitle, click “Create my Sign.” A PDF of your sign will automatically download. Check out Tailor-Made’s below!

 

Not using Constant Contact? Get a FREE 60-day trial or paid account for as little as $15 here. And until October 31, get a FREE Webmatch when you sign up for a paid account! Need help getting started or managing your email campaigns? Contact us or call 310-791-6300.

 

Word Search and Your Website Search Results

If you are trying to figure out why your competition ranks higher than you on a search keyword or long tail search, you may want to consider what matters most to Google according to Google.  What they measure most in order to provide a result for a query is:

Relevance: Does the information on your website satisfy the searcher? The more it is optimized for the right keywords, the most traffic you’ll generate.  The longer the searchers stay on your site and seem to be happy with the link, the higher Google ranks your site for that search word.

Speed: Time is money, so if you have a site that takes too much time to load, you will get dinged for the lag time to deliver results. Many websites were designed years ago or content that takes too much bandwidth, and therefore are not as responsive. This can cause you to lose the click through, even when you have relevant content.

Comprehensiveness: Does the searcher find everything they need on your site? In other words, does your content satisfy their need for an answer? Make sure that if you are buying keywords, the landing page you create for that keyword has the information that searchers are seeking.

Freshness: How stagnant is your website? If you do not frequently change content on your site, your site will rank lower. Make sure that your website has tools for easy updating so Google sees that your site is active.

For more information on adding an online advertising campaign to your marketing strategy, give us a call at 310-791-6300 or email us. Make sure you talk with someone who knows the requirements of Google and who measures your results to improve them over time.  And before you even buy one keyword, make sure your website has addressed these four requirements and identified a landing page that will work for the keyword.

Walmart Goes Social and Local at the Same Time

I always say that the biggest benefit of social media is market research. Of course I am an analytics fan and always want to measure what we do for results.  So it does not surprise me that Walmart is going local on social media and making it easier for their customers to interact with their own local store.

When you consider the possibilities it really means that they may be enlightened that not all neighborhoods are created equal. Who knows how far it can go? Maybe they’ll make it easy for you to even check the stock before you get to the store and eliminate the need for fruitless trips when they are out of stock on what you need or help divert you to another store that has what you need.  Either way, whether you are large like Walmart or a small hobby shop, it can’t hurt to see what your customers are looking for and how you handle it for them.  When you see a need at one store that is not at another, you find an opportunity to help your customers and increase your profits. And some of the best ideas in growing businesses come from your customers.

Check out this article and consider if your social media program is creating customers who feel in control. Not sure how to integrate this into your particular business? Give us a call at (310) 791-6300 or get our monthly newsletter.

Facebook is Banking on Advertising Following Relevance

Changes are brewing with Facebook’s paid ad program and it is not what you think.

This article about Facebook advertising changes are emphasizing powering up the referred by a friend category, buy putting an emphasis on the brand pages and bringing more power to them. Read up on the changes Facebook is implementing and keep your eyes open for advertisers who truly make the most of the features that Facebook’s new update provides.

Given the fact that the new timeline feature has been postponed till October 6 while a judge decides if it infringes on a timeline product that proceeds, monitoring your facebook news very well could be a full time job for the next few weeks while users reveal the positive and negative feedback.

Not sure where to start with the changes? Contact us and we’ll start you off with a Social Media calendar and a clear strategy for your efforts.

Facebook Changes Will Affect How Your Business Page is Received

In the last few weeks, Facebook has rolled out several new changes to its design, functionality, and privacy. It has introduced subscriptions, a real-time ticker, new ways to group friends, and is gradually releasing its brand new timeline features. These new features will change how you see your friends’ updates, your privacy settings, and how frequently you receive notifications. However it also has Facebook involved in a lawsuit over the timeline feature.

But what does that mean for you, as a marketer? Well, users can now begin to edit what appears among their top news, by utilizing new control functions just introduced in this Facebook revamp. This allows users to potentially remove your page’s updates if they find them consistently boring or irrelevant. You in return will get some feedback positive or negative. In fact, it’s time to start rethinking what to emphasize and how you manage your company’s Facebook page, and social media in general.

For a great summary on these changes and their long-term consequences, check out Mashable’s Round Up.

Not sure where to start with the changes? Contact us and we’ll start you off with a Social Media calendar and a clear strategy for your efforts.