Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Multi-channel marketing communications - all in one!
Smart Marketing Made Simple
Posted by 
on Monday, December 28, 2009 
at 11:27 AM 
in Smart Marketing is simple. Follow these 7 simple marketing steps for success!
Step:
- Review your target audience and be sure they match up to your product or service.
- Communicate with your target audience in the multiple marketing channels they communicate in (Social Media, Print, Electronic).
- Use the Marketing Medias (Mailers, Ad’s, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Email) and personalize the message where applicable.
- Integrate response mechanisms (QRCodes, PURLS , Web forms, 1-800) that are relevant to the audience, channel and media in use.
- Perform lead generation (Nurture).
- Measure, Measure, Measure.
- Repeat.
Tags VIDEO: Using Social Media to Build Business
Video Series: Using Social Media to Build Business
interlinkONE’s President and CEO, John Foley, Jr., has delivered the presentation “Using Social Media to Build Business” at events around the country over the past few months.
Recently, John presented the topic at the National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP) conference in Austin, Texas…. and, we were there with our video cameras!
We have posted some of the highlights of John’s presentation.
Click here to check out video clips from John Foley, Jr.’s “Using Social Media to Build Business”.
Some of the highlights include:
- How to find prospects with social media sites
- Using social media for customer service
- What can you actually learn in 140 characters
How LinkedIn Has Helped Me
Recently I was on a quest for a set of icons to use in powerpoints, software, advertisements, everything. I needed something that was sleek, up to date, descriptive but most importantly worked with print as well as web.
Finding an icon set that both offered Print and Web formats is what really was holding me back. On top of that I had no idea where to start searching. Google is always an option but I was getting sent to hundreds of sites most which kept lacking the print formatting.
So I ended up heading over to LinkedIn. I posted the following message:
This was one of my first times posting my own discussion. I posted on a Monday night and when I checked back Tuesday morning I was overwhelmed with the information I received. Not just by the large amount of comments but I received over a few dozen of personal emails with suggestions of websites, freelance designers, references, links, and more.
I was really impressed by the LinkedIn community they were kind, polite, and full of information and opinions about how they went about finding their own icon sets. I even ended up making a few LinkedIn connections in the process!
LinkedIn has completely helped me in this search I’m in the final stretch on determining where I will purchase the icons from (A site that was recommended by three responses to my posting).
On top of that LinkedIn ended up boosting interlinkONE.com’s site hits!
When taking a look at the Google Analytics for the month of August LinkedIn ranked number 3 in the “All Source Traffic” report (Right behind direct traffic to the site and google searches).
It also ranked number one in the “Reference Sites” report – Surpassing other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter that had recently been leading the pack.
So LinkedIn has helped me in two ways – Its users have educated and supported me in my journey for icons but it has also been a great way to drive traffic to interlinkONE’s website.
So if you’ve been weary of LinkedIn in the past I suggest you give it a shot for yourself and for your business.
And if you’re unsure on how to get started or what other features LinkedIn has to offer feel free to check out the “How To: LinkedIn” screen cast below.
Blogging, Twitter, and YouTube, Oh My!
Social Media… If you aren’t addicted to some aspect of it already, you most likely soon will be. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are exploding in popularity, and they are having a major impact on the marketing world. Recent surveys are even showing how younger generations are even moving away from e-mail, and solely relying on these types of sites to communicate online.
Without further ado, here is a bit of information on some of the marketing channels that are available to you now – and that can help you greatly expand your reach.
| Marketing Channel | What is it? | Example (interlinkONE) |
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Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service. It enables you to send and read other users’ updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length.
Why should you use it? – People will follow you. You can then provide information that they may find useful (perhaps links related to stories that affect your industry, or links to content that your company provides). Also, people post personal items on Twitter. This could help present the “human” aspect of your company to others. |
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YouTube allows you to upload, share, and view videos online. You can also link to or embed these videos in your website and landing pages.
Why should you use it? – Video is a great way to get your message across. People are bombarded with marketing messages… Sometimes a video is the the one that gets your prospects attention, and also delivers your message. |
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A blog is a website which is usually maintained by an individual or a group of people. It typically stands apart from your corporate website because a lot of times they offer commentary. Typcially, the topics are related to something in your industry… or common challenges that people in your business face each day.
Why should you use it? – A blog can be a great way for people to become familiar with YOU. Perhaps they are not in the mood to read the sales-related material on your website, so they click on your blog. From there, they become familiar with your expertise and what you care about – all the while seeing the link to your company website on the page. |
