Marketing Tips: 5 Benefits of Social Media
September 26, 2009
Not sure if it’s worth the time to invest in your company’s social media efforts? Besides the fact that social media sites are almost all free to setup and use, here are 5 other benefits for using social media for your business that stand out for us.
1. Engage your customers. Cost benefits aside, social media lets you communicate with your customers in ways that no amount of advertising can bring. You’ll stay updated on the latest trends in your industry by actually having ongoing conversations with the people that matter the most to your business.
2. Brand your company or yourself. Build your brand by having all of your social media efforts look and feel the same, so that visitors will know what your brand is all about.
3. Get feedback and results faster. Instead of waiting around to hear your customer’s concerns and feedback, you will have everyone at your fingertips on social media sites. You can be sure that people are accessing social media multiple times a day.
4. Create more links for people to find your website. The more involved you are in social media and the more often you update, the more links you’ll have going back to your website.
5. Find people who are interested in what you offer. On social media sites, people are going to follow what interests them the most. You don’t have to worry about your message being wasted on people who aren’t looking for it because your followers will consist of people with similar interests.
Just remember, social media is a great tool to use, but the goal is to bring people to your own website, so make sure you make your Twitter and Facebook fun and interesting to stay in the loop and keep visitors coming back.
Did You Know? – A Video On The Influence Of The Internet
September 20, 2009
I thought I would share this video and let you know what perhaps you did not know about the influence of the internet and the world today, and into the future.
Design & Promote Delivery: Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc.
September 13, 2009
mcsresults.com
Midwest Commerce Solutions signed on with the Chicago search engine optimization company to create a new website for the consulting services and specialized business software company. MCS was looking for a site that people could navigate easily to find exactly what they’re looking for. They needed to show their extensive list of products and services and let people know exactly what types of consulting they are able to do.
Design & Promote started with a clean homepage that shows who MCS is, what services they offer, and also shows recent news about the Sage technology. These functions allow Midwest Commerce Solutions to illustrate all of the services they are authorized to perform all in one simple and easy to find website.
About Midwest Commerce Solutions
Since 1992, MIDWEST COMMERCE SOLUTIONS, Inc., has become a premier regional provider of specialized business software and consulting services. Midwest Commerce Solutions offers Sage Software’s enterprise-wide software solutions specifically designed for small to mid-sized businesses, along with implementation expertise.
Social Media Benefits For Retail Stores And Malls
September 12, 2009
Find Shopping Malls on Facebook
We recently did a post on The Steps For Creating A Facebook Page For Your Business to show you how to setup Facebook for your personal or business use, and some tips on how to use it. This article is going to focus on the importance of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for retail stores and malls.
General Benefits for Using Social Media
One of the greatest things about social media sites are cost benefits. Most of the social networking sites out there that you can setup a business account for are free, like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. You can add as many things to your account as you want and watch the number of followers grow without having to pay any fees. Social media also helps get more traffic to your website, so instead of spending a lot of money on online advertisements that may or may not turn into revenue, you can direct people to your company through free links.
Another unique reason for using social media marketing to grow your business is because you are instantly entered into a world where you can directly communicate with customers and fans of whatever it is that you offer. Instead of just trying to create new ways to find business, you can actually talk to the people who are interested in your company and have a one to one dialogue with them, which is beneficial to you both. You will be able to understand them more, offer them customer service faster and more efficiently, and also be able to stay current on all the latest trends in your industry.
Social Networking Usage for Stores
Companies on Facebook and Twitter are using social media to connect with customers by notifying them about special promotions, coupons, seasonal promotions and new website or store openings. Not only will a larger number of people be aware of these offers, but they will learn about them faster than any other form of marketing. With the use of Web-enabled mobile devices, customers of any age can know about your promotions as soon as you send them out.
Even whole shopping malls are creating Facebook and Twitter accounts so that they can connect with shoppers going to a variety of stores. By using social networking, malls are telling people about special events and in store promotions that are going on. Usually stores within a mall will have seasonal promotions, so social media is perfect for the whole mall to tell customers about annual promotions and events.
Challenges Businesses Face in Social Media
The main reason why so many companies struggle to succeed with social media is that it takes a lot of time to maintain a worthy campaign. There are too many sites out there to use, so it is important to choose the right ones for your specific industry. Also, if one area of social networking is very time consuming but not producing the right results, it is wasting a lot of your time to keep up.
You must also be aware that the mere number of posts or offers you have means nothing unless they are useful to the people looking at them. It’s important to make sure what you’re putting out there is interesting and valuable, while being eye-catching and user friendly at the same time. The popular example within the Facebook community is Wal-Mart, who made a page that had a corporate feel and didn’t fit in the Facebook world.
Visit our Facebook page: Design & Promote Facebook Page
New Solar Vision Project Delivery
September 8, 2009
solarvision.us
Design & Promote has created a new website for Solar Vision, an alternative energy company focused on establishing solar energy in Greece. Solar energy is an emerging industry, and there is constantly news on the subject. Solar Vision wanted a site that people could visit to learn more about energy and why Greece is a great place for solar energy investment.
The Chicago SEO firm used large, colorful pictures to showcase solar energy on the website. They also included a spot for the latest news on solar energy, and added a banner to view videos relating to alternative energy.
About Solar Vision
SolarVision LLC. is an alternative energy company focusing on the development of Photovoltaic Energy Parks. Our spotlight is on Europe, specifically in the Country of Greece. SolarVision is focused on building multiple Photovoltaic Energy Parks totaling approximately 1MW by early 2010. A 1MW facility produces enough clean energy to power 800 average homes and eliminate 750 Tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions annually, the equivalent of removing 469 cars from the road per year.
New Web Design Launch: AE Sports Publishing
September 1, 2009
aesportspublishing.com
Design & Promote teamed up with AE Sports Publishing, the Aurora based t-shirt, apparel and promotional items company, to create a website where schools can find everything they need to outfit their student-athletes with the best custom made apparel around. The Chicago area website design lays everything out on the home page for easy navigation and quick results. Design & Promote included a number of pages where AE Sports could showcase the custom apparel, and also used pages like “sale of the month” and “product pricing” to show customers different pricing options. The homepage also has a link for schools to learn about AE Sports’ unique “Shirts for Schools” offer that gives schools the opportunity to receive 300 free t-shirts.
This new website also has an attractive banner that scrolls through three different pictures of student-athletes. The website development company designed the site so that a search bar, recent blog posts, calendar, and list of pages could all be included on the homepage without having it look too busy or confusing.
About AE Sports Publishing
AE Sports is based in Aurora, IL and does work throughout Illinois as well as the rest of the United States. It was opened by TJ Hodges in August 2007 and is currently working with non-profit organizations, businesses, and high school and college sport teams.
AE Sports can provide you with custom apparel and promotional items. They work with schools, sport teams, charities, organizations, businesses, and fund raising companies. AE Sports focuses on great customer service and affordable pricing on all their items.
We’ve Partnered With Constant Contact To Help Local Businesses Send Out Their First Newsletter
September 1, 2009
Constant Contact Business Partner Program
We recently added Constant Contact’s Business Partner Program to our list of effective and affordable tools to help clients build strong, lasting customer relationships. This program enables our clients to use effective E-mail Marketing and online survey products.
We are also offering a value added service to help businesses that want to send out monthly newsletters but need a little help getting started. We will work with you to design a newsletter template that matches your website or brand and send out your first marketing piece while coaching you along the way, all for the low price of $500.
“E-mail marketing and online surveys are proven tools that help small businesses connect with their customers and build successful customer relationships,” said Len Bruskiewitz, senior director, Partner Programs, Constant Contact.
As a Constant Contact Business Partner, we are able to provide our clients e-mail marketing and online survey capabilities. With SpeakUp! E-mail Marketing, Constant Contact’s e-mail marketing product, our clients can create professional-looking e-mails, manage contact e-mail lists, measure e-mail campaign results from clicks to open rates, and review who joins e-mail lists.
With ListenUp! Survey, Constant Contact’s online survey product, our clients have a tool to gain insight that will help them meet customer needs, generate new ideas, and grow their businesses or organizations. ListenUp! Survey also helps our clients analyze responses quickly; create targeted e-mail lists based on survey responses, take action, and follow-up with relevant e-mail communications.
“Our customers are always looking for effective ways to grow their businesses,” Stacy Jones, president of Design & Promote, said in a news release. “Constant Contact’s customer communication tools give our clients a valuable addition to our core services of web design and search engine optimization. Constant Contact’s ease-of-use and affordability made the partner program a great solution to meet our clients’ email marketing needs.”
You can get more information, view a live demo or sign up for a 60 day trial at our Constant Contact business partner portal below.
Design & Promote Newsletter Marketing
Design & Promote Launches New Kids Matter Website
September 1, 2009
kidsmatter2us.org
One of Design & Promote’s not-for-profit clients, KidsMatter, was looking for a Naperville web design company that could create a website where they could announce upcoming events and have an easy way to communicate their mission of raising healthy kids to the community. The new KidsMatter website is not only a great way to get involved and find ways to volunteer, but also a good source for a large number of resources on Developmental Assets.
KidsMatter wanted a bright, friendly website that included lots of good pictures of kids. Design & Promote designed an inviting, user-friendly and colorful site that has a changing banner on all pages.
About KidsMatter
KidsMatter works hard to prevent problems from happening in kids’ lives by providing them with experiences, relationships, opportunities and values they need to succeed. Our education and programming is based on powerful research that’s proven by Search Institute. This research conclusively shows that the more Developmental Assets young people have in their lives, the less likely they are to take part in at-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to exhibit thriving behaviors.