443-458-5465

Marketing Matters

website rankings and seo
Link Enlarge

Seeing Red with SEO Changes?

website rankings and seoChanges happen on a daily basis that impact how you show up in search engine results.  Staying on top of them can be a full-time job.  Panda and Penguin have wreaked havoc on many website’s rankings.  Did any of those changes impact your rankings?  Here’s a quick 60 second video from Entrepreneur Magazine that shares some resources on where to find out what’s going on in the SEO world.

Still need help?  Reach out and we’ll take a look under the hood of your site and let you know how to increase your rankings online.  You can also give us a ring at 443.458.5465.

Tags: , , , ,
text messaging for restaurants
Link Enlarge

Local Restaurants Capture Menu Shoppers with Text Messaging

text messaging for restaurantsNow that summer is upon us, people are more apt to wander around any local town, browsing restaurant menus in the windows until they find something that strikes their fancy.  More often that not however, the group cannot decide on where to go or what to eat so they often end up entering the restaurant that happens to be the last doorway they come to out of sheer frustration.

Well, if you’re that last doorway that’s great news.  However, menu browsers often visit 3-6 doorways before sitting down to a meal.  What’s a good way to entice those sidewalk wanderers?  It’s simple really.  Make it a no-brainer for them to come in.

Today, it’s easy to use text messaging to lure customers into your restaurant.  You can do this boldly as this burger restaurant has done, or you can add it to your window or menu so that people deciding on a place to dine will see it and interact.

Hungry potential diners will text special keyword, such as BURGER to a specific number.  This automated system will then reply back to them with your unique offer.  There are lots of offers you can make, of course the better the offer, the more people will participate and be seated as your paying guest.  Make sure the perceived value is strong and watch customers walk through your doors.

Even if they wander off to the next doorway, odds are that text message with your strong offer will bring them back to fill your dining room.

Want to explore using text messaging for your restaurant?

Drop us a line or give us a call at 443.458.5465.

 

facebook strategy
Link Enlarge

Advertising on Facebook

facebook strategyJust days before Facebook’s stock hit the market, General Motors’ decided to pull $10 million dollars of their advertising budget.  This decision has led some to believe that Facebook’s advertising service may not be strong.  However, the advertising service brings in a billion dollars per quarter in ads, so their main concern was not that GM pulled their money but the timing of the publicity before Facebook’s IPO  release.  One of the reasons for the budget change may be related to other consolidations of GM’s global advertising and marketing spending by chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick as reported in The Business Insider.

Here at Pro Marketing Matters we agree with much of the analysis in the article and suspect that it’s not so much that Facebook ads were not performing but that they were not integrated into a comprehensive plan designed to reach GM’s fans using the Facebook platform.  It was likely a smart decision to pull back, reevaluate, plan and take a new approach. We see GM coming back to Facebook.

When using any marketing medium, but especially social media you want to make sure you know your target audience and build a strategy catered to their interests and the time of day they are online.  Build a community first.  There are many ways to reach people on Facebook without spending any money.  After building a solid base then consider paid advertising based on your knowledge of how your community interacts with your brand.

Looking for a Way to Get New Customers/Clients?

Ask!  One of the best ways to get new clients is to ask your existing customers for referrals.

Select your best clients or customers and ask them if there are any colleagues, friends, family members or neighbors whom you might be able to help, too.  When you’ve done a good job for your customers, they are generally very happy to recommend your products and services to the people they know.

Link Enlarge

Presenting at the IWCE – Chicago

Interior designers and window covering professionals will soon gather in Chicago for the International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE).  Our very own Nicole Shields will be there presenting two seminars to attendees.

Her first will help attendees learn how to use the many free resources available to them online which will help them with their local marketing.  The seminar, How to Use Free Web Tools to Dominate Your Local Market, Even if You Don’t Have a Website will delve into the ways local businesses can use the resources of Google, Bing and Yahoo plus the many other free resources that are just waiting to be claimed by local businesses which help them with their local marketing.

The second seminar will help business owners and managers get a handle on their marketing by understanding all the new tools and solutions available and how they fit, or not, with their business.  How to Eliminate Marketing Overwhelm, New Marketing Tools and How to Use Them Successfully will walk attendees through how to use some of the newest marketing tools such as QR Codes, social media, YouTube and many others.