Are you planning your Small Business Saturday? Why not?

Small Business Saturday is the Saturday following Thanksgiving (November 26 in 2016). Originally sponsored by American Express and promoted in conjunction with the Small Business Association, even President Obama helps promote Shop Small Saturday to help local businesses get more sales that day. But you don’t have to have a sale to benefit and use #ShopSmall to grow your business. You can offer an open house, food, massage, holiday cookies and coffee or other opportunities to wish your customers a happy holiday.

By using the hashtag #shopsmall you can reach beyond your list of past customers and leads to reach consumers who are shopping that weekend or looking for local deals. To help you figure out how to tie in an event or sale, you can download ideas and tips, as well as customize the #shopsmall logo by visiting the website: shopsmall.com. Because that day is promoted by multi-media nationally and any participating small business (retail or otherwise), you will be visible to all their followers.  And you don’t have to take American Express to participate.  Businesses can add their event information to the shopsmall.com website search so their event, promotion or sale can be seen by local shoppers.

The #shopsmall event is nationally promoted by many entities including local chambers of commerce, retail centers, American Express, and neighborhood associations. By tying your promotion or event into the hashtag #shopsmall, people who follow Instagram or Twitter hashtags can easily find the local participants and see your event. In addition to the website, you can also connect with the #shopsmall Facebook and Twitter feed to reach even more folks who follow the event #shopsmall but maybe did not know about your business or sale. And don’t forget to ask  your local small business organization if they are offering anything for their ShopSmall promotions that can include your local deal or event.

To help figure out what type of event  you can do, see shopsmall.com for suggestions on how to expedite a welcome or selfie station, neighborhood scavenger hunt, dining night out, and more. Get creative and brainstorm with your staff to determine how your business can best take advantage of this opportunity to grow your business by reconnecting with your past and potential consumers.

Once you have defined your offer or event, remember to cross promote by using your social media (create a Facebook event page) and a template Email Marketing Campaign to create invitations to join you and to provide online promotions you can use as Facebook ads to reach beyond your past customer list as well.  If you need help with ideas or to learn how to implement these tools to launch and promote your #shopsmall event, contact us at 310-791-6300. Or email us for a free event planning guide at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.

For more information on improving your business marketing or your website performance, contact Tailor-Made Advertising to review and improve your efforts.  Liz Harsch has been helping business owners maximize their marketing budget since 1988.  For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com.  Liz is a valued Marketing speaker and trainer for SCORE, SBDC, Constant Contact, Chambers of Commerce and Small Business Groups on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, email her at tmade.mkt@verizon.net or call 310-791-6300.

 

Six 2016 Advertising Tips For Small Businesses

Change up your marketing plan for 2016

The New Year is here and you are busy closing out the old and ringing up the new, who has time to review?  Newsflash, if you don’t take the time to review, you are doomed to make the same mistakes as last year and possibly toss away some marketing ideas that worked.  While you don’t have time, make time and learn what paid off and what was a waste of your time. Here are 6 2016 Advertising Tips for Small Businesses and Non-Profits.

1. Did you run any online promotions in 2015? If so, did they work or did they flop. More importantly did they get you new customers or more sales from returning customers? Take a minute to review the results which should be easy to do with  online analytics. Email us or download our worksheet from Facebook to help you evaluate your results.
2. How’s your social media stacking up? One of the biggest 2015 time sinks by business owners was spending too much time on social media without anything to show for it. Make sure your social media is planned out and there are goals set and goals achieved.
3. Are you doing any Facebook ads? If so, hopefully you are targeting those facebook users that match your demographic profile for customers, donors, volunteers or employees. Take the time to see if you are reaching the people who are most likely to use your services. Make sure you are keeping them up to date on your industry & services.
4. Are you collecting and using emails for Email marketing and if so are you winning the battle of the inbox? Join my webinar this Wednesday 1/6 or my other January workshops where I will be reviewing tips on how you can win that battle and keep loyal subscribers.
5. Review my marketing checklist for 2016 and fill out your goals, history and set some new challenges to yourself for your marketing plan in 2016. Email me for a copy or download it from my Facebook page.
6. Consider adding one of these media types to your current marketing plans and track your results to see if it should be a permanent add in:
   • Coupon offers in shared mailers like Valpak, Advo or local publishers.
   • Email Newsletters, Events, Webinar or Survey Marketing using Email Connections
   • Promoting your newsletter through online publications & blogs.
   • Online coupon offers and sweepstakes or invites.
   • Video ads on YouTube,  Hulu or Facebook.
   • Radio or cable advertising in select markets (costs less than you think).
   • Ads on Pandora or other subscriber platforms
   • Pay-per-click ads on Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, or promoted posts on Instagram or Pinterest
   • Banner ads on leading, niche sites like local publications or online vertical market platforms.

Liz Harsch, has been helping small and medium sized businesses make the most of their marketing investments since 1988. Her company, Tailor-Made Advertising is an Authorized  Local Marketing Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com. To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net or call us at 310-791-6300.

Use Holiday Hashtags to Expand Your Sale’s Reach

Whether you are having a sale or shopping for something special, hashtags can help you reach more customers and find more deals. So why not learn some that you can use to achieve your goals? Here are some of the more popular hashtags you need to know about to follow the conversation and talk about your specials. To join the conversation, just use the @ symbol in front of the hashtag and share it on facebook and instagram as well. To make the most of your promotion, make sure to facebook, blog and Email your promotion.

Holiday Shopping

#Shopping– A look at how people are shopping

#blackfriday– Black Friday statistics and left-over deals, Friday, Nov. 27

#smallbizsat– Tweets around Small Business Saturday, Sat. after Thanksgiving Nov. 28

#shopsmall– People discussing supporting local businesses during the holidays Sat Nov.29

#blackfridaydeals – Tweets about deals for Black Friday Nov. 29

Holiday Ideas

#diy– For DIYers looking to give homemade presents

#handmade – Crafts for  this holiday season

#CES2015 –2015 Consumer Electronics Show, great gadgets for holiday shopping

Holiday Deals

#holidaysavings– Links for holiday savings

#deals– People Tweeting deals they find as they find them

#blackFriday – Stats on the success of Black Friday (Friday after Thanksgiving)

#cyberMonday – Stats on the success of Cyber Monday (Monday after Thanksgiving

Holiday-Specific Hashtags

#holidays– General excitement around the holiday season

#Christmas– Tweets about Christmas activities

#winterwonderland– Snow talk

#Hannukah– Tweets on the Jewish holiday

#Kwanzaa– Kwanzaa Conversation

#NewYears– Talk about New Year’s resolutions

How can this list help your business: Look at the conversations and see how these hashtags facilitate relationships between brands and consumers. What hashtags can you create or glom onto that will help your brand engage in the holiday conversation? However you plan to utilize social this season, be sure you have an engagement strategy. Email Tmade.mkt@verizon.net for some examples of holiday deals you can emulate.

Liz Harsch, has been helping small and medium sized businesses make the most of their marketing investments since 1988. Her company, Tailor-Made Advertising is an Authorized SCORE workshop presenter and an awarded Constant Contact Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in a quote or more information on a mobile website, email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com. To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net or call us at 310-791-6300.

5 Tips To Grow Your Business With Thanks You’s

It is that time again. November is a month of Thanks & Planning for your business or organization. But did you also know that it is a great call to action month to help you achieve more sales or fundraising? Try these tips to use Thank You as a way to get more business and grow your positive reputation online. It is an easy way to let your customers and potential clients and donors know that you are helping them achieve goals while also being thankful for the business or organization that they have helped you grow.

Tip 1: Send out a Thank You in the middle of November to let your past purchasers or donor’s know that you recognize this coming Thanksgiving to be an opportunity to let others know you care. It is a great time to recognize their contribution to your success and that you intend to keep them in mind in your thanks as well.

Join my November Workshops & Webinars to Plan your Holiday Campaigns & Marketing Strategy

Tip 2: Strategize a helpful promotion or event where you are giving back to your clients with a special offer or where you are helping a cause by selecting a non-profit that you can integrate into your monthly promotion or #BlackFriday or #ShopSmall Saturday as a recipient of some benefit of your promotion. (Think 5% of our sales go to feeding the hungry or for each new customer we donate $10).

Tip 3: Decorate your showroom or your cards with holiday dates and images that make your customers/donors/volunteers feel you understand what they are celebrating and that you want to be a part of that celebration. Think of reconnection and any ideas you have that will put you back in the minds of your contacts and help them get their goals met, such as Stop by while you are out shopping (open house) for a cup of complimentary coffee and refreshments while you are out. This can be done socially distanced too. Or set your service business up as a drop off for a non-profit gift giving group like Toys For Tots or Military Family Gift Giving.

Tip 4: Create a special promotion for your past business contacts and donors. Remember they are your repeat purchasers and your tried and true loyalists.  So offer them something that says you’re special to us, something you do not offer new contacts. Create an exclusive Thank You for that target group alone.

Tip 5: Give your staff and administration freedom to brainstorm with you about what to do in November and December to build on what you did last year and to create a unique experience that is a step above what your competition is doing. This can be as simple as Free gift wrapping, a holiday card (online or by mail). Also remember to thank your staff and admins since they are the reputation of your organization, you need them to be your biggest fans. See what you can do to make their holidays brighter.

Author Liz Harsch is a marketing consultant, Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit them online at tailormadeadvertising.com. Or sign up to get her monthly tips for small business owners and management.   To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email beth@adteamla.com or contact us at 310-791-6300.

5 Tips To Grow your Business from #OneCon2015!

Although, I don’t have the time, I always take at lease one 3-day training break. Because when you step away from your business to educate yourself it always pays back in time and cost savings and growth achieved. A good workshop should increase your revenue and save you time and money. In last 3 days, I have learned about many new online tools and best practices from advertising to project management. And you are going to benefit from this knowledge as I give you a few of the highlights. But I know from past experience that if I don’t implement some of these ideas in the next 30 days, I should hire someone who can. Otherwise the time spent is wasted. Here are few tips I learned at #OneCon2015 an annual convention provided to me by #ConstantContact2015.

Tip 1: It is important that you understand your business model and review how it is working. Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome (growth) is insanity. So ask yourself where you want your organization to go and when, and then figure out how you are going to achieve it by changing your marketing plan.

Tip 2: Create a lead or contact flow funnel and identify the steps in follow up and sales execution. It is not enough to collect cards or get calls, it is key that you have a program in place to ensure follow up and multiple contacts.

Tip 3: Identify what you are doing best. There may be services that you do not really make money on but that you use in order to service existing customers. The question is do you have to do that? In many cases you do not even know what those services really cost you but it is key you figure that out.

Tip 4: Track your time and the time of your team. If you are not tracking your time and your team’s time you could be charging the wrong rate for your services or products. You need to know the cost in order to set a smart price or you will literally be working yourself out of business.

Tip 5: Are their clients or customers that you need to fire? This is a tricky one but when you provide service to people who are not a good match for your product or service, you may be making a bad name for yourself.

Join my Grow Your Business Webinar on 10/14

 

Author Liz Harsch is a marketing consultant, Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit them online at tailormadeadvertising.com. Or sign up to get her monthly tips for small business owners and management.   To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email beth@adteamla.com or contact us at 310-791-6300.

3 Steps to facebook Posts that Achieve Your Goals!

So you are spending a lot of time on facebook trying to keep in touch with your customers and getting them to talk about your business or non-profit to their friends. But at the end of the day you are not getting your time back in sales or donations. You know something is wrong but you are not sure how to figure out what.  Let’s figure it out starting today.

What Do You Want People To Do?

Step 1: What were you trying to do on facebook? The answer to how to make it work for your company is to set some goal that you can achieve. Typically there are different types of posts you can do on facebook:

1. Links (which are designed to move people from your facebook page to your website, event page or shopping cart).
2. Images (which are designed to get people to like your post or your product pictures).
3. Testimonials (which are designed to get your customers to post reviews on your page and hopefully their friends are following them)
4. Videos (which are designed to get your fans or visitors to review and learn something about your business and your brand).
5. Sweepstakes or Content Download posts (designed to get you more contacts for your newsletter or to connect to your facebook page).

Step 2: Not all of these posts work the same so it is important to decide what results you are looking for before you plan and post and repost. Remember, if you have 30 “likes” or more, you can see your facebook insights and that will provide you with lots of feedback on how your posts are working. Make sure you are checking your results.

Step 3: In addition, when you figure out what posts are working best, add paid facebook advertising. You can select the goal you are trying to achieve and facebook will recommend the best format for your ad monies based on your goals.   You can also review the posts you have done lately that are accomplishing your goal and amp up your results by boosting those posts with some paid ad money that is targeted to match your customer demographics.

Author Liz Harsch is a marketing consultant, Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit them online at tailormadeadvertising.com. Or sign up to get her monthly tips for small business owners and management.   To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email beth@adteamla.com or contact us at 310-791-6300.

#Social Media Example: NY Mag, Bill Cosby & #TheEmptyChair

Whether you are in agreement or not with the New Yorker Magazine cover that prompted a national conversation using the hashtag #TheEmptyChair campaign, you cannot disagree that the use of traditional media plus online media and social platforms drove the success of the public relations outreach.  This example demonstrates how imagery with social media efforts delivered more impact than daily news reports could.

So how does this story impact your business? For starters they did not rely heavily on copy as the picture encapsulated the story (look at all those women). The image’s impact created a social media frenzy and the hashtags #theemptychair was featured prominently from #facebook to #pinterest, #tumblr and #instagram. Beyond that the story spread throughout the network of their fans, friends and contacts and then was picked up by bloggers (like me), newspapers, magazines and social media curation sites. By adding hashtags# the stories spread even further by connecting the topic and then connecting this story with the topic of sexual assault which was already in the news due to the out of hand number of assaults on campuses in America.

#TheEmptyChair conversations went on to be shown on YouTube and other #SocialMedia.

So it started with an image and then led to a hashtag #theemptychair and that connected all social media and online posts to the other conversations, including the publication and other social media accounts. Followers could then retweet, repost and share what impacted them most about the story and their network of friends and contacts would be exposed to the story.

Then if you visit that conversation (in this case #theemptychair) you will find all the conversations that reference that hashtag or images for it — all in one place, and you can also check it out on search engines to see images, stories, content that were offshoots of the original story. As a follower or viewer you can choose to keep in the loop and see where the conversation goes. Along the way if you comment or post, your logo, comment and other images are referenced so that people following that conversation can connect with people who share their ideas (thus expanding your reach and area of influence).

So suppose you own a gardening business and you want to tap into a trending hashtag and or conversation on drought resistant plants. You can search twitter or google and grab those stories that are trending for that topic and you can include or insert your company into that conversation by retweeting or reposting the hashtags and social media feeds and then commenting some gardening solutions and offer folks to see some drought resistant solutions you have installed and a suggestion they get your gardening newsletter monthly or follow your feed on #pinterest, #twitter, #tumblr, #facebook or #instagram.

NY Magazine Tumblr Account kept the conversation going and helps you use content from their blog

By media mixing, social media expands your reach and sometimes it can start a conversation and provide a beacon on how to follow that conversation. In addition people can message you to find out more about whatever peaked their curiosity or add their private conversation to the platform with just the owner of the hashtag or the page for the platform. You can choose to continue to broadcast your message to your contacts or you can expand your area of influence by connecting with others outside your contacts using tools like those used in this example.

Author Liz Harsch is a marketing consultant, Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit them online at tailormadeadvertising.com. Or sign up to get her monthly tips for small business owners and management.   To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email beth@adteamla.com or contact us at 310-791-6300.

5 Tips To Close More Business & Grow Your 2015 Sales

 

5 Tips to Close More Business In 2015

Increase Your Sales by Improving Your Lead Follow Up

It starts with setting a goal. Like any other thing you decide to accomplish, the chances of you succeeding in growing your business is automatically increased when you put it down on paper and commit to achieving something more grand. Just like that 10 pounds you want to lose in time for the holidays, the more people who know what you are trying to do, the more people who will be encouraging you to get there. If you keep your sales goal to yourself, you will likely not achieve it. So here are some tips to grow your business by setting new goals and achieving them.

1. Review your lists. Sales starts with connections and you need to start from somewhere. First review your customer list and see when you were last in touch. Then review your lead list and see if you followed up. Then lo0k at your family friends list and consider this, no one sells you better than your family and friends. This is why social media helps businesses.  Fact: A kind word from those who are your raving fans goes a long way.  Also add lists of professionals and past work connections who can testify to your integrity and help to connect you with others. Don’t forget your clubs,  professional affiliation or religious organizations who can also give you and your company some growth.
2. Put your list to work.  These days in addition to having a contact, it really helps to have their email address. With that you can start to reach out to them in Email Marketing, Social Media platforms, you can even get them to see your ads regularly on social media where you can upload their emails and make sure when they login, they see you.  In addition, at the cost of a postage stamp, Email contacts is much more cost effective and immediate. Consider using online tools that provide stats and show you who is interested like an online toolkit. Contact liz@adteamla.com for a list of tools.
3. Create a communication strategy.  The average person needs to see your company or your business 7-9 times in order to overcome the hurdle of trust, which is the first step to hiring you or trying your product. What is your plan to reach them this many times? If they come into your store and then you follow-up with an Email, you still have to reach them a whole lot more to get an action.  That is why we suggest media mixing your traditional media and ads with online social media tools and Email Marketing—it keeps you on top of their thoughts.
4. Check in with your sales team. Some of the best ideas on growing your business will come from those that are fighting to get you sales. They already know your company’s strengths & weaknesses. So why should they discuss this with you? Because you can learn from them and help them be more successful selling. Or  you can create an environment where your customers and your sales team are afraid to let you know when your services are less than promised. Create an environment that is helpful for your team to talk to you. Make individual appointments with them to discuss their most current prospects and what is standing in the way of a sales. Give them tools to help close those deals. Also use surveys and polls to see how customers see your business before and after a sale. They may help you see other opportunities for more business in the process. At the least they will help you keep your reputation strong so your shortcomings won’t be found on an internet review.
5. Review your profitability.  Sometimes the problem with your sales is your price. It can be too high or too low, but it also must be profitable. If you have not factored in sales costs, material charges, shipping, tax, overhead, rent, you may find that you need to raise your price in order to make money. Remember that your clients want you to be around, so do what you have to do to be profitable. It ensures your employees an income and if your product is good quality, the customers will pay a fair price for it. You can also package the product with something else to make the price increase seem like a better value.

Want to learn more? Schedule an appointment to review your marketing or sales strategy with Liz Harsch for a 2.5 hour consultation to review your strategy and get some tips on what to do next to grow your sales. You can also attend one of her workshops or classes on marketing strategies for small businesses and network with other business owners while you are there. Visit her website at http://tailormadeadvertising.com.

Liz Harsch, has been helping small and medium sized businesses make the most of their marketing investments since 1988.  Her company, Tailor-Made Advertising, is an Authorized SCORE & SBDC workshop presenter and an awarded Constant Contact Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com. To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net or call us at 310-791-6300.

Twitter is Now on Google Search-Use it to Grow Your Business

Last month Google started serving twitter posts on google search on smart phones, making it easier for twitter content to get more eyes on it. It also allows Google search to have more new content to serve in a more timely manner. That means that if you have a twitter account and you are including keywords, your post can be served by google on the topic you discuss.  It also means that hashtags on conversations that are current topics may include your tweet.  Here is how it works:

1. If someone sees your Tweet among the search results on a trending topic or your industry, they can learn alot about your social account right away: the Twitter handle, the profile pic, & the time the Tweet was posted.
2. It’s mandatory you take a good look at your twitter profile on a smart phone and your tablets in addition to your PC or laptop and optimize your profile and check your profile for keywords that make sense.
3. Trending topic searches are more likely to show Tweets first because they are more recent and often more relevant. Remember twitter is a format that in 140 characters describes what the content is about.  So while  Tweets won’t always show up as a top result, or show up at all—it all depends on the subject of the user’s search.
4. In the official announcement of the feature, Google states that Tweets in Google searches are “a great way to get real-time info when something is happening. And it’s another way for organizations and people on Twitter to reach a global audience at the most relevant moments.”
5. So, if your brand or blog features content that adds to a discussion of a trending topic, your Tweets containing the appropriate keyword or hashtag have a chance of showing up when that topic is searched. To maximize your chances revisit some strategies on how to write engaging Tweets, and how to use trending hashtags wisely.
6.  In addition to just seeing the Tweets show up in search results, you might want to explore how a mobile audience would see your page. All the profiles on the new Twitter mobile app are responsive, but not all cover photos would look ideal on a smaller screen. Plus, keep in mind that your Tweet conversations won’t be separated from the main stream, so you still need to identify your company and your company focus the best first impression on new visitors to your page.

Download my twitter getting started guide from my facebook page to help you navigate your twitter business account. Each month I give away a different free tool.  “Like” my page to be alerted each month for next free tool. Come to my local or online FREE Social Media, Email Marketing and Strategy Classes and Webinars or one of my hands-on laptop classes to actually expedite your campaigns and develop your marketing plan or next promotion.  Would you like to try Constant Contact to grow your business? Click here to get started adding this robust tool today.

Liz Harsch, has been helping small and medium sized businesses make the most of their marketing investments since 1988.  Her company, Tailor-Made Advertising, is an Authorized SCORE & SBDC workshop presenter and an awarded Constant Contact Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects or you need a trainer, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com or call us at 310-791-6300.

Develop facebook Ad Strategies That Accomplish Your Goals

Facebook Advertising Can Be Cost Effective When You Target Your Market First.

When it comes to facebook paid advertising, businesses can get a lot done with very little money. But before you begin, it is key that you ask yourself a few questions first:

1. Who are you trying to reach? Before you boost your post or do display ads on facebook, determine who y0u are trying to reach with your message. It is no longer enough to reach your fans on facebook since facebook is only sharing your posts with those people it determines want to see your posts.  This has greatly reduced your reach considerably.  But if you use the advertising tools you can target the people that you want to reach most and you can profile them to find others just like your current customers.
2. Determine a region or way to define your market in order not to waste your funds.  If you just allot money and then let your ads run, you will be shooting in the dark. However you can enter your demographic profile (age, shopping habits, interests, geographic location and more) in order to spend your funds where they will do you the most good. So before you get started see what your customers or target customers have in common and select an audience that makes sense.
3. Create an ad that gets attention with a desirable price, a great image or using content or copy that really defines the action you want people to take.   Don’t just try one ad or option, try several and measure your results. With facebook advertising you can limit your overall spend and run several types of ads at the same time.  You can also see the results like in this photo.
4. Measure your results. In this example we were trying to sell unused hotel rooms so we used a post and boosted it as well as running display ads to people who were in the area for concerts in the region.
5. Use your other social media platforms to enhance your reach.   In this case we used the conversation about #Coachella using the hashtag from twitter to reach people going to or interested in going to the concert.

Want to learn more about how to use facebook advertising and social media to reach your target market? Come to my Social Media, Email Marketing and Strategy Classes and Webinars or one of my hands-on laptop bootcamps to help develop your marketing plan and your next promotion to get results. It doesn’t matter what your business is, we can find a way to design your next promotion or event effectively to accomplish your goals. Interested in using Constant Contact to grow your business? Click here to get started integrating your marketing tools today.

Liz Harsch, has been helping small and medium sized businesses make the most of their marketing investments since 1988.  Her company, Tailor-Made Advertising, is an Authorized SCORE & SBDC workshop presenter and an awarded Constant Contact Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.  

For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit tailormadeadvertising.com. To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net or call us at 310-791-6300.