Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Hello, and Welcome.
My name is Greg Taylor, I am a Co-Founder of e-Smart Marketing, based just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. We specialize in helping small business master the Internet through effective marketing material, management, and strategies.
In 2003, I became obsessed with Internet Marketing. Always an entrepreneur. I like many others, saw a universe of possibilities on the Internet. Form that point on, I was hooked.In the year prior to my Internet marketing experience, I was very much into mail order direct marketing. It was here that a learned to write my first sales letters. At first, they weren't much to shout about. In fact, they were down right bad.
But I didn't let that stop me. I read book after book, by the masters of copy writing. As I would create new marketing campaigns, I would write my own sales letters, often with one of those books in hand. I would also study the most successful sales letters in history. After a while, I began to get the hang of it, and grew to love it. Since then, I have written many sales letters, and continue to write the copy for my own projects to this day.
As I got more into Internet Marketing, I used my sales letter skills to create many campaigns. In the process, I also learned to build websites, and cultivated SEO skills to get high rankings on my websites. I loved Internet marketing, and the amazing way it opened up the world to your message.
Several years ago, I was introduced to the new era of Internet technology, Social Media Networks. If you are not familiar with the term, I am referring to sites like Facebook, Twitter, My Space, and You Tube. At first, everyone was not sure about how to use this new medium to market with. But over the past few years, marketers have figured out some amazing methods to use these networks to build a business.
The beauty of Social Media Marketing is that it is a combination of the three most powerful forms of marketing known to man. It combines the Internet with word of mouth advertising, that can then be spread viral form . This means that one person passes on your message to another, who in turn passes it to another. It's a beautiful thing to a marketer, and profitable for the business who figures out a way to take advantage of it.
Only one draw back. As I created various social media campaigns, I found it to be very time consuming and arduous. I would spend hours per day, just building lists of Twitter followers and Facebook friends. Then I would spend more time, communicating with them. You see, the key to effective social media marketing, is being social. This means you have to be out there, so people can see you. With social media, your target market doesn't want to hear a pitch from you, they wants socialize with you. Therefore, it is a fine line.
The key to good social media marketing is to build relationships. This means spending more far more time on the relationship, than on the sales pitch. Then, even when you get to the pitch, it must be subtle . It is really an art, and most Internet marketers don't have a clue how to do it effectively. In fact, if you try and market using a social network in the wrong way, it can be disastrous. Not only will you alienate your customer base, but you likely will also get kicked off the network. In eyes consumer and networks eyes, these networks are built for socializing, and not for business.
With this being said, I realized that there was a real need for someone to provide these services. Most marketers simply don't have the time or money it takes to learn and implement these strategies. In addition, they are expensive. To market to social networks effectively, there are many tools you need, and they cost money every month. I spend hundreds of dollars every month on tools to run mine and other campaigns. I realized also that, even if a marketer figured things out, they still had to sit in front of their computer every day for hours on end. This burns out a marketer really fast, and most quit from this alone.
It was these thoughts that led me to form e-Media Management. We have mastered these strategies, we already have the tools in place, and we constantly are adapting to a constantly changing Internet environment. I have assembled a team of experts in virtually every aspect of Internet Marketing. Together, we provide the systems, and services that most markets can't or would rather not do themselves.
When it's all broken down, out clients actually find that they save money by using our services. In business, time is money. In business, tools cost money. In business, education costs money and time. We allow our clients to leap frog over all of this, and do what they do best. I hope that we can do the same for you.
Greg Taylor
Co-Founder
Copy Writer
Social Media Marketing Consultant
Co-Founder
Copy Writer
Social Media Marketing Consultant
Mobile Coupons: A Century Old Marketing Strategy Meets Technology
Mobile Coupons: A Century Old Marketing Strategy Meets Technology
By Greg Taylor
In 1887, marketing genius Asa Chandler created the first coupon to promote his new product, Coca-Cola. Interestingly, he took the name coupon, from the French word “couper”, which literally means “to cut”.
Chandlers ingenious marketing idea, turned out to be extremely effective as he went on to found and grow one of the most successful companies in history. Over a hundred years later, many other entrepreneurs have created fortunes from coupons, and they are still used effectively today.
However, since the invention of the Internet, Coupons have changed a bit. Yes, many coupons are still cut from traditional advertisements, but others are now printed directly from the web. In fact, many coupons are no longer cut, as they are in digital format, and never reach paper. So coupons are still a very viable form of marketing, but coupon strategy is evolving with technology.
The most recent method of coupon marketing is through the use of mobile technology. Cell and smart phones are the perfect place to promote coupons, because people carry them with them all the time. One doesn’t have to worry about losing a coupon, if it is saved in a text message. However, the value in mobile coupons really comes in the immediacy, and effectiveness of getting your marketing message noticed.
Studies indicate that over 90% of all texts messages get read. This means that if you can deliver a coupon to a recipient via a mobile text, there is a very good chance they will see it. In addition, they are more likely to redeem it, because it is stored in their phone. So mobile coupons can be very effective, the biggest challenges is delivering the message.
There are now to different ways to deliver a coupon via mobile technology. First is through SMS text, short code marketing. This is a form of customer permission marketing, in which a potential or existing customer requests to receive promotions from a business, such as text coupons. This is typically in response to a traditional advertisement a business has run, inviting them to subscribe to their text messaging campaign.
A business advertises what is called a SMS short code. Essentially, this is like a short phone number for texting, combined with some type of code to identify the marketing campaign. For example, an recipient may be invited to text the word “coupon” to 55555 to subscribe for regular offers.
The wonderful thing about this type of coupon delivery is that once a customer has subscribed, the business can then deliver coupons over and over again, at a very low marketing cost. It also allows the business to use relationship marketing to foster the business connection, and encourage repeat business.
Recently, a new form mobile marketing is becoming very popular and effective, utilizing smartphone technology. This is basically Internet banner advertising, extended to Smart phones .However, this is far more effective than Internet banners, because only one offer can be seen on a smartphone at any one time. With such limited space on a smartphone screen, it almost insures a recipient will see the advertisement.
The banner ad will offer something that will entice the recipient to click on the ad. They are then forwarded to mobile optimized page that will provide the coupon in exchange for the submission of either an email address or the texting of a short code. Either method can be effective in the delivery of repeated advertisements and relationship building strategies.
Coupons are as viable, if not more effective method of advertising than they have ever been. They still provide that little something extra that will drive new customers to to an establishment. However, with mobile coupons, marketing with this method is cheaper than ever before. Smartphones advertising is so new, that it is still very affordable. SMS text marketing is also very cost effective. When you combine the two together, it provides a very powerful marketing system that all businesses should consider as part of their marketing strategy.
Technology is constantly evolving, and marketing methods evolve as well. Those businesses that are progressive and technology savvy, will have a jump on their competition. Those who aren't, will be missing out on a very effective spin, on century old marketing method that still works.
Greg Taylor
www.e-smartmarketing.net
E Smart Marketing
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