I know that you want your Winnipeg Business to get better.  An important part of  getting more business is to develop a feed back loop to allow your customers to share their experience with your business in a candid manner.

This is where an online survey comes into play.  By offering customers a virtual survey to fill out, you can gather data cost effectively, and get more participation.

In order for this to be effective, you have to first systematize this, and second, give your customers an incentive to fill this out.

Part of your process needs to be to send a customer an email after an order is completed, with a link to a short survey.  We give our customers an incentive of a free gourmet pizza if they fill out the survey and guarantee them that it will take them less than a minute to complete.

The feedback that we get from customers is great – and helps us to get better as a company.  It doesn’t matter how much online advertising you do, or Search Engine Optimization you perform…  If your don’t have a continual quality improvement program in the form of a customer feedback loop for your Winnipeg small business, you will have a tough time getting to that next level.

Hep

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Facebook Messenger UpdateIf you thought Facebook was attempting to takeover the way you use the web, you’re only getting half the story, as earlier this week the popular social media brand launched an assault on the way you communicate with your cohorts.

The battle line was drawn with a subtle update to Facebook Messenger, the company’s attempt to take on (once) popular instant message programs like Windows Life Messenger. In the most recent update, the Messenger app can now be used to send texts to your friends either by their FB account or via their phone.

The overall functionality is very similar to iMessage, the iOS text program which lets you communicate iPhone to iPhone or iPad to iPad, in that you can reach anyone for free; only Facebook takes this one step further, giving you the ability to communicate pro bono with virtually anyone (assuming, of course, their cell number is listed in their Facebook account, which assuredly many people have forgotten to remove).

There is a definite upside here for businesses, since Facebook recently permitted Business Page followers to connect with their followers via messages. This means that there’s a whole new way for the traveller to reach out to you, and given that the younger generation’s penchant for texting is not going away any time soon, this is a great way for you to connect up with your Facebook followers.

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Beginning a new chapter in my life Monday at Hep Communications, a lot of information was passed on to me in the online world. Some things will need to be reviewed constantly but some stuck out and I needed to find some simple answers.

My wife is involved in a family business, Wilf’s Elie Ford, a rural Manitoba Ford Dealership. I asked her how their company website is built and operated.

Taking a look at other Ford Dealer websites there was a common theme and all looked similar. A quick Google search of “Rural Manitoba Ford Dealers” brought back a number of pages of options but no where did I find hers. So what is Ford doing to help their dealers from an Online Business standpoint? How are they helping get them to the first page on a simple Google search?  How about lead generation? What about Google Places? Are they even on the map?

Not a lot. Of course there is a section to fill out to contact the dealer for a quote but how effective is this?  Are they qualified or are they just “tire kickers”? They do use a website developer in the USA, but is their a strong relationship between the companies?

We are well into the world of Social Media Marketing and there are many ways a local dealership can take advantage of this. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest just to name a few. The Social Media world is growing at a phenomenal rate, a proper partnership needs to happen for her company to make it onto the first couple of pages on a quick Google search.

More research on my part will have to happen in order for me to make the changes necessary.

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I must admit, I am quite impressed with Microsoft’s push to get Bing entrenched in the Search Engine market.  It seems like every time I download anything on my Windows based computer, Mr Gates has found a way to slip Bing in there as my default search engine.

If you are not focused on keeping Google, you will quickly find yourself being “Binged” to death.

It is no secret that Bing is gaining traction on the 800lb Gorilla know as Google.  At last reports, Bing controls almost 15% of the Search Engine market.  The usual demographic default for Bing is the older windows user who is afraid of changing anything on the default search engine.

So…. If you are targeting boomers, or seniors, with your online advertising, a Bing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy or pay per click program may be a good fit for your online marketing for your Winnipeg business.

Internet marketing just got a little more complicated.

Here’s to you Bill Gates.  You have managed to get the Gorilla’s attention.

Hep

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I’m always amazed by ways that companies in Winnipeg find to tell stories; it’s part of my nature as a journalism school graduate.

So when I was listening to the radio recently and heard a commercial for a local funeral company that has brought technology to the memorial business. This was accomplished by putting QR codes on headstones or other markers.

Genius. Or should I say, “Genaeous.”

Now I should note that this technology has been out in the market in one form or another for roughly a year, so it’s not an entirely new concept; but it’s one that’s picking up some momentum.

The same can be said for the QR code market in general. When the QR was first introduced, it was a bit of a stretch to get people to believe that someone would take the time to pick up their smartphone (assuming they had one) go to their reader app and use it to download more information.

Now, the QR is getting integrated more into commonplace marketing. We’re seeing some brilliant integrations of QR into design and overall strategies, to the point where they don’t just look like a random assortment of dashes and lines anymore, much the same way the www is now an automatic function of any marketing piece.

For those who aren’t seeing the results of the QR yet, trust me, it is coming. The Smartphone and the tablet are not going away – the market is only beginning to grow, and so will the population using QR scanners

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Many of our customers are now thinking in terms of when rather than how they can use mobile marketing or mobile applications to make their businesses better.

If you have service people in the field, engage mobile to enable them to do their job better – through communication, recording and reporting.

With the adoption of mobile and tablets, customers are now going to access you online when they think of you, rather than wait to get home.   Make it easy for them to find you with mobile friendly websites that are useful, intuitive and easy to use.   Create an immediate relationship with QR codes.  Use them  for all of your marketing materials, signage and displays.  Mobile for Winnipeg Business is here, and is growing.  The market is making buying decisions and buying products on their mobile device.

What is your strategy for mobile marketing?  How are you encouraging social media postings through mobile that are going to benefit your business?

Time to catch the band wagon and jump on.  Your competitors are already there.

Hep

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The advantage of direct mail is that you can reach an unlimited number of people simultaneously.

If you’re in a business-to-business (b2b) environment, ask yourself how easily you can reach 500 to 1,000 prospects in a matter of days? By doing some research, and getting together a list of appropriate leads to target, your company name and product/service offer can suddenly be in front of prospects that might be predisposed to buying.

But don’t stop there. Put together a compelling offer in your direct marketing piece, and drive the recipient to do one of two things: (1) to call your company for further information; and/or (2) fill out an online request form for a call back from your sales department.

Often potential buyers will poke around your website before calling, so you’ll want to ensure that the direct mail piece has a specific website address (often referred to as a Landing Page) that provides a shortcut to the offer you are promoting. For example, if your company sells brooms and cleaning products to industrial companies, the website landing page you direct them to might be something along the lines of: www.cleaneasycompany/fall-specials.

By having a webpage set-up to explain the offer, you not only eliminate navigational confusion when a prospect is on your website; but you’ll also have the ability to analyze your landing page traffic data to see how many leads clicked on the page, how long they stayed and whether they left any contact information or request for a follow-up call.

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A few weeks back the world was awakened to the campaign by a U.S. documentarian to bring Joseph Kony to justice over the atrocities he caused in Uganda.

The video went viral in a matter of hours from being posted as Facebook walls and Twitter feeds joined the campaign. In short, Kony 2012 was a marketing success.

The campaign, however, encountered two major flaws – the critiquing and criticism levied against Invisible Children and the breakdown and eventual arrest of Jason Russell, the man behind the camera (well, at least for most of the doc).

But were those two pieces of the puzzle the end game for Kony 2012? Not necessarily. After all; the campaign had a goal that was, in a way, separate from the above factors.

As you’ll recall, the video ended with a call to action that was to take place this past weekend – a blanketing of posters and flyers that would put “Obey” to shame.

In my travels across Winnipeg between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning, I came across a couple – as in two – in my travels between St. James, River Heights, downtown and the North End of our city.

While the aforementioned fall-aparts certainly had an effect on the downfall of the campaign, I’d argue that the greater failure was because of poor planning. The video hit it big in mid March, five or so weeks prior to the big Kony campaign night. That’s practically a lifetime in today’s electronic world.

The lesson to be learned is simple. It’s great to pre-plan, it’s great to start spreading the word about your product, especially through social media means; but to rely on humans to remember or act more than a month before your event takes place, with no mechanism to remind them of the upcoming event, is just asking for failure.

So as you set out for your next big marketing campaign, remember that there is an important stage between announce and launch – remind.

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I think your brand is now more important than ever in this world of message glut.

Think about it.   You have less than 2 seconds to make an impression online – and about the same in your outdoor advertising.

Your multi-channel marketing recipe involving outdoor and online is best served with a clear concise brand.  To have your small business found by the Winnipeg market, you don’t have a choice.

We no longer have the luxury of providing an explanation of what we do and what we represent.  The market will make that decision for you before you count to three.  Brand is critical to your success.  You must be prepared to invest in your brand and to carry it through in everything that you do.  With over 3000 messages per day, the average person doesn’t have time to interpret your brand.

It better be loud and clear

Hep

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Thinking about different ideas on how to attract customer loyalty? A recent article in Maclean’s Magazine featured a new service called GetGlue (www.getglue.com).

In short, it is a web service that TV fans use to check-in and discuss their favorite TV shows. Unlike other social media platforms where you might make a one-time choice to like something, GetGlue is more of an ongoing cumulative service, whereby you can collect Virtual Stickers each time your favorite show is on TV. Once you collect enough virtual stickers you can send-in and get real stickers. The interesting aspect of this concept is that it provides up-to-date and real feedback on how people are watching and discussing programs while they are on TV. To the TV networks this must be invaluable information. The Maclean’s article points out that when the season premier of Mad Men was on, check-ins increased substantially right before Don Draper’s wife sang for him at his 40th birthday party. Want a sticker from Mad Men? Now you know how.

The moral of the story is things are constantly changing; but what is obvious is that sometimes the best marketing and sales growth stories come from a blend of old and new. Don’t rule out combining new online marketing opportunities with some more traditional marketing ideas. Often it can work to your business’s advantage.

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