Marketers have long relied on the bandwagon effect to increase sales. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology, the bandwagon effect means that “the probability of any individual adopting [particular conduct or beliefs] increases with the proportion who have already done so.” River Pools & Spas, which was the subject of our last blog post, cleverly uses the bandwagon effect… (Click on the headline for more…)
A Superb Example of Using Content to Sell
I love finding great marketing techniques from other industries that could be applied to the gardening industry. The latest that I’ve come across is from River Pools & Spas, a fiberglass pool company based in Warsaw, Virginia. Judging from their website, the company understands that their prospects require a lot of education and hand-holding before they’re ready to buy. Not only is the site jam-packed with valuable information, but the way it’s organized is also instructive. (Click on the headline for more…)
Cross-Promoting Your Enewsletter on Facebook
If you publish an enewsletter and have a company Facebook page, are you doing everything possible to cross-promote them? Here are a few suggestions: (Click on the headline for more…)
5 Best Ways to Achieve Your Goals
As the year draws to an end, it’s time to review what worked and what didn’t, and plan the year ahead. Do you set the same goals year after year, without ever reaching them? Do you simply hope for the best, without ever setting goals? Here are 5 key strategies for taking success into your own hands: (Click on the headline for more…)
How to Make 2012 Your Best Year Yet
Would you like to make 2012 your best year yet? It’s easier than you may think. Here’s why I say that: (Click on the headline for more…)
An Important Consideration in Holiday Email Schedules
The holiday season is here, and you know what means: every merchant with an email list is ramping up their email schedule. Before you join them, give some thought to the effect that increased mailing frequency is likely to have on your list. (Click on the headline for more…)
Gaining Insights Into Your Web Traffic
Web buyers are becoming a larger and larger percentage of everyone’s business these days. It’s important to keep in mind that not all web buyers are created equal. Your web buyers generally fall into one of two categories: (Click on the headline for more…)
Balancing Learning Curves and Opportunity Costs For New Marketing Methods
Mobile websites…smartphone apps…iPad apps…text marketing…Facebook advertising…Facebook company pages…Twitter…StumbleUpon…Groupon…YouTube channels…blogs. There’s a plethora or marketing possibilities that were virtually non-existent 10 years ago. Just as many have come and gone within that time. It’s hard to tell what will last, and what will disappear. So how do you decide what to focus on, and what to ignore? (Click on the headline for more…)
To Email Or Not To Email?
Now that it’s the first week in October, you’re probably starting to think about holiday promotions. So is every other marketer in America.
Since email is so inexpensive to deploy, you’re undoubtedly thinking about ramping up your email marketing. So is every other marketer in America. Last holiday season, I was receive multiple emails per day from some companies!
Before you set your plans in stone, consider this: (Click on the headline for more…)
Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages
Creative inspiration often comes from watching what other industries do, and adapting their practices to fit your own circumstances. It’s with that outlook that I regularly review “top 10” or “top 100” lists, including Social Media Examiner’s recent Top 10 Small Business Facebook Pages.
Selected from 1,400 nominations, the winning companies were judged on their Facebook landing pages, engagement, reader involvement and creative use of promotions, among other things. Social Media Examiner’s blog post shows sample pages from all ten winners and specifies exactly what the judges liked. My personal favorites were these: (Click on the headline for more…)