The DreamPix Studio

How Effective is Your Email Marketing?

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If a business has gathered the email addresses of customers who are interested in what they have to say that means they have both an audience and an opportunity to turn them into paying customers. But how can those readers be inspired to open the mail and then click through to the website?

How to increase the Email Open rate

Pay attention to the subject line – it should be short but sweet. It is imperative to grab the reader’s attention prompting them to read further.
The ‘from’ name and address should reflect your brand. People hesitate to open the door to strangers.
Be aware of the day of the week and time of the day that you send emails. You will find that results vary and different businesses have success on different days and times.

How to get more Clicks

The ‘Call to Action’ must be clear and compelling. That doesn’t mean that it needs to be flashing and follow the cursor but it should be easy to find and beckon a visitor to click through answering the 5 W’s in information gathering. If possible have a primary and secondary Call to Action to be sure to cover all your bases.

Becoming an Expert in your Field

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inthenews_snowIf you want to grow your business it is imperative to become an authority in your field. In my industry that is best done through content marketing. By regularly making blog posts, engaging in social media, and utilizing email marketing to spread the good word about your brand, product, or industry. While there may be industries where this technique does not work as well, most businesses with a product or a service will find it to be a win, win scenario.

I have a roofing client who is ever diligent about his web presence. In late October we began focusing on the hazards of New England weather as it relates to the roofing industry. We made a blog and social media posts on ice dam prevention and preparing gutters for winter weather as well as other useful tips, like using a roofing cart to transport tools and materials up onto the roof when a repair needs to be done. The excessive snowfall and recent publicity surrounding roof collapses have sent the news media, home, and business owners to the internet in search of an expert on roof snow load and ice dams. Guess who came to the top of search engine results? The online marketing effort has paid off ten-fold. While my client has received more phone calls than they can handle and the hits on the website are so high that the server has crashed, we have attained our 15 minutes of fame and have succeeded in our mission to become the go-to authority in the roofing industry.

It’s All About Content

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In the early days of the internet, it was acceptable for a company to copy and paste information from their brochure onto a web page and launch it into cyberspace never to glance at it again. But those days are gone. Today the internet is all about content – fresh, new, innovative information. The concept as to why it is important to regularly update a website is simple.

  1. Even robots get bored with repetitive information. It’s like getting a newspaper week after week that has the same content. Search engines will reward those who take the time to post fresh content by boosting their page rank thereby giving them an edge against the competition.
  2. Fresh content gives customers a reason to return. Like new merchandise in a store, new content increases the likelihood that a customer will return and make a purchase. The math is simple – fresh content translates into higher sales.
  3. A business owner will be able to better track what works and what doesn’t work if they are regularly making changes. Without anything to use for comparison, how is a business owner to judge what works and what doesn’t. Analytics tell the story on a day to day basis.

Of course, one of the best ways to post new content is to blog regularly. But that’s another story.

Does Your Website Need a Makeover?

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I gave my own website and branding had a little makeover during the blizzard that hit New England this past week. A website is a window into a business and it is important to keep it up to date in terms of technology, information, and graphics for a number of reasons.

  1. Fresh material keeps visitors coming back for more. Give potential customers a reason to come back by regularly post new content and updating images.
  2. Keep up with the Jones in terms of SEO. Like everything in technology, SEO is continuously changing. Some of the older SEO techniques do not work as well as they once did especially when competing against today’s equipment.
  3. Social Media Inclusiveness. Don’t be a social media outcast. Like it or not, social media platforms are here to stay and they are a powerful marketing tool. The platforms should be integrated into your website so that you can begin building online relationships.
  4. Mobile Compatibility. While it isn’t necessary to have a mobile website, it is imperative that your site be mobile compatible and/or responsive. More people are shopping the net than ever before and their mobile experience cannot be discounted as unimportant.
  5. Credibility. An outdated website or a website with errors affects how potential clients perceive your business. A competitor is only a click away.

So take a look in the mirror. If what you are violating any of the above website musts then a makeover should be on your 2015 to-do list.

Online Reviews vs. Referrals

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Consumer reviews play an enormous role in the consumer decision-making process. However, some online review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Angie’s List have been under attack by critics who theorize that at least 16 percent of the reviews on these sites are fake. This is mostly due to businesses who are trying to offset negative reviews by posting fake positives. It is important for businesses to monitor their online reviews as it impacts their reputation however, their social media presence also affects the bottom line.

essex_fin_thumbsupWhat is the value of a social share on Facebook? I’m not referring to a simple like or a thumbs up which is a bit ho-hum at this point. I’m referring to getting someone to put a little skin in the game and actually share a post or information on their personal page which is a different story and carries a much greater value. It is a referral and referrals are the most powerful form of marketing that you can use and it’s also the least expensive. When Facebook friends see that someone is willing to put their reputation on the line for a particular brand or product they take notice and wonder if they may be missing out on something. There is no recipe on how to woo a Facebook community as each one is different, but engaging them and beckoning them to talk about you should be the main objective as each share will be worth its weight in gold.

Five Tips to Get Noticed in 2015

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It isn’t easy to stand out on the web today as it is saturated with companies vying for attention from the same customers. But, if you carefully mold your brand and deliberately target your local market niche online you will be noticed.

Here are five basic rules to follow to boost your visibility online.

  1. Build a graphically appealing interactive website:

    A static website is not good enough. Your website is the face of your company and a powerful marketing tool. It is imperative that you provide customers with what they are looking for in terms of the product and services that you have to offer. Beyond that, the functionality must be flawless and the content engaging.

  2. Don’t be pushy:

    The goal is to build relationships with your target market. Becoming an authority in your field and building trust is the best way to lure a potential client away from a competitor. Use social media platforms to offer an insightful view into your industry rather than pushing products and services.

  3. Email Marketing:

    Email marketing is still alive. Sometimes potential customers need to be reminded that you can fill a need for them. Don’t be afraid to reach out and touch your audience with a timely email or a special offer.

  4. Think like Starbucks:

    The coffee industry has done a remarkable job stroking their customers and making them feel as though they are part of the brand. You will notice that Starbucks rarely mentions its products on its sites – instead, they focus on consumer benefits and offer its customers a platform to engage in Starbucks ‘ wonderfulness.

  5. Have a branding plan:

    To have a successful brand you must have a business plan that defines your market and goals, know where to find your customers online, and know your competition.

Target launches new mobile app

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Are you strategizing for your Black Friday shopping fest? Target has taken on the art of mobile mapping with the launch of a new and improved mobile app that not only allows shoppers to compare products and prices but it links products to store maps and actually brings shoppers to the aisle in the store where the product is located. This represents a new trend in ‘showrooming’ that may well serve as be a formidable weapon against Amazon as it appeals to the point and click crowd or shoppers who just wants to get in and out of the store quickly – especially on the busiest day of the year.

Measuring the Results of Social Media

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Proving the value of social media is one of the more difficult tasks that I have as an online marketer. The two questions that I am asked most often by clients are, “What is the best way for me to engage my audience on social media?” and “How can I measure the results of social media marketing?” As I muddle my way through an explanation that includes some of the buzz words like “reach” and “impressions”, I am somewhat comforted by the fact that even large companies struggle to define the return of their investment in social media.

Those businesses that are most vested in social media measure their success with two measurements, “reach” and “resonance”. Reach is defined as the number of unique people who see a post when it appears in a news feed. Impressions, on the other hand, are the number of times a post from a page is actually displayed. The number of impressions is likely to surpass the number reached as one person may see the same post multiple times.

Resonance measures engagement – the number of comments, likes, and shares that a post receives. Most businesses engage in social media in an attempt to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. However, both “reach” and “resonance” can be analyzed and used to drive traffic to the company website and ultimately help them to reach sales and marketing goals.

Lowe’s ‘Fix in Six’ Vine Campaign

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fix_in_six_header_640Lowe’s was recognized by Ad Week this past week in honor of their ‘Fix in Six’ campaign on Vine. They have launched an array of clever videos featuring useful tips and tricks for the home. The clips have earned the retailer smashing reviews and awards from the advertising gods. They have may tremendous use of 6 quick seconds and may just go down in history as one of the best uses of Vine. Although, I do recall Tide doing a bang-up job with Vine videos last Halloween.

View the recent collection of Lowe’s Vine Videos

WordPress Under Siege

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Hackers and spammers work tirelessly at their craft and they don’t do it for kicks.

WordPress websites are a favorite target of hackers and their intentions are not honorable. There’s big money in the business of hacking – primarily they want to steal from you, bombard you with adware and spam or collect intellectual information. If you have been hacked you are in good company. This month alone JPMorgan Chase, Staples, the White House, and my client, Martin Cutler MD, were hacked by cybercriminals. Here are four simple steps that you can take to avoid being victimized.

CHANGE LOGIN/PASSWORD

Typically hackers work like an amateur burglar who walks down a hallway testing doorknobs until they find one that opens. To avoid this type of break-in be sure that you are not using the default ‘admin’ as the username and come up with a strong password.

UPDATE WORDPRESS, PLUG-INS & THEMES

Just as it is important to keep your antivirus software up-to-date on your computer, it is important for business owners to protect their CMS platform by regularly updating plug-ins, themes & Word Press when updates are available.

STOP SPAMMERS PLUGIN
Stop Spammers is an aggressive spam plugin that stops spam registrations, logins, and comments using multiple checks. It looks for typical spammer bad behaviors and blocks those. I have disabled comments altogether on many websites because owners cannot deal with the high level of spam. This plugin has terrific reviews and works wonders.

BACKUP

It is important to back up your database regularly – whether you do it manually or install a plugin to do it for you. Backup buddy will back up your entire WordPress blog. Unlike free plugin’s which will only backup your database, backup buddy export your database with images, files, and whatever you have in your blog’s content folder. Don’t wait until it is too late!