Archive for January, 2011
MARKETING IN 2011
Tags: 2011, Email, Marketing, rankings, results, SEO, social media
Now that we’re into 2011, it’s definitely time to think about your marketing efforts for the year if you haven’t already. Keeping your marketing up-to-date is key to it being successful, and in order to keep it up-to-date, you need to know what’s coming in 2011!
1. Google Search Results are still important
Google isn’t going anywhere… as a matter of fact, they’re still getting bigger! Google accounts for 66.2% of organic searches in North America alone, according to comScore, Inc in November of 2010 [source]. According to data from a sample done by the Chitika network, the top Google result spot drove 34.35% of all traffic [source]. Of course, don’t forget about Yahoo! and Bing… combined, they account for 28.2% of organic searches [source].
So what does this mean for 2011? That search engine rankings are going to stay an important part of the internet marketing world, so work on improving your SEO for 2011.
2. Direct Mail vs. Email Marketing
According to a study done by The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) mid 2010 [source], response rates for direct mail have held steady for the past four years, with letter-sized envelopes receiving a response rate of 3.42% for a house list and 1.38% for a prospect list. However, email to a house list averaged a 19.47% open rate, a 6.64% click-through rate, and a 1.73% conversion rate (The bounce-back rate was 3.72% and the unsubscribe rate was .77%).
So what does this mean for 2011? If you’ve had success with direct mail marketing, don’t stop! However, email marketing can be cheaper (no printing or mailing costs), and it’s got a higher open rate.
3. Focus on Value
The last few years have been tough on both businesses and consumers, and we are still seeing the effects in people’s reluctance to spend. This trend will continue, and people will still hold tight to their money until they can be convinced that what is being sold to them is really worth it. Even if sale items are scrutinized, as the excitement over saving money has been replaced with a worry of spending it unnecessarily.
So what does this mean for 2011? You need to make sure that what you are selling or providing has true value that your customers can see. Take a hard look at your products and services and make changes where necessary to improve value so you can market with a focus on that value. Consumers will be looking closely and will see through any false marketing of claimed value.
4. Social Media is Taking Over
Facebook and Twitter have grown in leaps and bounds, and will continue to do so in 2011. New social media is popping up as well in the form of services such as Groupon. An important point to consider: not only is your target market on these sites, they’re exchanging information with each other about what they like. Yeah, that’s right… they’re talking about you! Or they could be if you start the conversation. Consumers like to talk and are influenced by their friends.
So what does this mean for 2011? Social media is going to keep growing, and it will continue to be a great place for internet marketing if you do it right. If you don’t already have a social media presence, hurry up and get in there! Then focus on ways to get people to talk to each other about your products or services.
5. Mobile Marketing
Did you know that over 70% of the world’s population have a mobile phone? That would be over 5 billion people, and 9 out of 10 people in the United States. Let’s break that statistic down further… Apple has sold almost 60 million iPhones worldwide, and Google’s Android OS is activating over 160,000 devices a day in over 40 countries. Smart phones have become immensely popular, and will continue to grow. Something that smart phones have that other phones don’t: Web capabilities.
So what does this mean for 2011? Keep smart phones and mobile marketing at the top of your list! Consider creating a mobile friendly version of your website, look into smart phone apps and ad space, and look for new opportunities that mobile marketing can bring you!
SOCIAL MEDIA LOOKS FORWARD TO 2011
Tags: 2011, facebook, foursquare, groupon, Marketing, path, professionals, social media, trends, twitter
Social media has grown in leaps and bounds… more for businesses and marketers than for the high school kids that ruled it in the past. Facebook now has more than 500 million active users, Twitter added 100 million new accounts in 2010, and MySpace (the land of high school kids and annoying flash ads) may be laying off 50% of its employees.
That’s not good news for MySpace, but it does show where social media is heading. There is a clear focus on businesses, entrepreneurs, and more professional users as opposed to teenagers and silly surveys. Of course, that doesn’t mean the casual social media user no longer has a place in this part of the internet world, as they are the audience that the businesses are looking for. Social media is now trending towards something that allows businesses to easily integrate themselves and be placed directly in front of all those casual users.
So what does this mean for social media in 2011?
Well, we may be saying goodbye to older social media sites such as MySpace. To be honest, they haven’t kept up with current trends and aren’t a very desirable place for serious businesses. They have chosen to become more of an entertainment hub as opposed to focusing on networking, but unfortunately don’t appear to be doing well.
New social media will be showing up, however. We may even see the next new “Facebook”… newcomers such as Foursquare, Path, and Groupon have all showed some interesting promise for 2011. They each offer location based services as a more focused feature, which shows social media may be trending towards something “narrower” and less noisy.
Existing social media sites will be moving towards more integration. We’ve seen a lot of mobile integration as well as different social media sites integrating with each other (have you noticed the Facebook “Like” buttons popping up everywhere?). Sites such as Threadless.com are showing interest in taking advantage of Groupon offerings. Threadless has also created a marketing campaign that allowed them to boost their Facebook fan base to more than 200,000 during the holiday shopping season.
Twitter may be adding ads similar to those of Facebook. Considering their massive growth, Twitter needs to do some sort of monetization if they want to last long term. If implemented properly, Twitter could generate quite a bit of revenue with an automated self serve ad platform.
If you’re a business with a good grip on your social media, keep your eyes open for some interesting (and beneficial) changes. Things are definitely trending in your favor! If you are a business without a social media strategy… what are you waiting for!?
If you need more information on getting set-up to use social media networking to your benefit, get in touch with us!
215.256.4512 or tomb@bergeycreativegroup.com
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