Marketing 5 - Old City Web Services

Business to Business Marketing: Videos

January 20, 2015 by anoadmin

Many small businesses today rely a great deal on Business to Business (B2B) marketing as part of their business model.

B2B is a marketing practice that allows a business to sell products or services to other companies that resell them, or use them in their products or services.

When it comes to content marketing, a whopping 76% of businesses are using video as part of their content marketing strategy. 72% of those that use it, say that YouTube is their video platform of choice to distribute content for lead generation and brand visibility purposes.

The question is this: is video marketing effective in all cases? Or should it just be one small part of a broader B2B content marketing strategy?

Some upsides to using video in content marketing is that video is easy to combine with a broader social media marketing strategy, and it is easy to share via multiple venues to bring brand or product awareness.

As with all marketing strategies, though, one must know their audience and what will be most effective for who they are targeting. As a marketer of your small business, it's key to understand what will be received well by who you are marketing to.

Video is a quick way to get the message about your services or products out there. But B2B is complex and it isn't always as easy as making a video, pushing it out there, and seeing immediate results, and video marketing isn't a silver bullet. As a marketer of your small business, you should never over-simplify your buyer into one narrow package. Not all buyers are looking for the same thing or using the same process to make a choice of product or service: some rely simply on facts, some on emotion, some on a combination of both. Video is an excellent way to draw in the buyer emotionally but may not provide as much fact as the buyer needs to make a choice. On the flipside, a fact-based video may draw in a buyer based on product description but not draw in an emotional buyer who is looking for a compelling connection when making the choice of which business to go with.

At the end of the day, any marketing strategy for your small business should be nuanced and complex enough to cover the many different people who are looking to use your products or services. At Old City Web Services, we can help guide you in the process of broadening your strategy and help you grow your business in 2015.

The What, Why, and How of Twitter for your Business

November 5, 2014 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Using Twitter is necessary for having a well-rounded social media strategy for marketing your business. There are so many new tips and tricks for making Twitter easy to use and effective when it comes to getting your brand out there to the public. Whether you are new to Twitter or if you just want to see new results with your current Twitter account, here is help.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a way of communicating with your followers in posts (tweets) that are 140 characters or less. Twitter is a great way to quickly and efficiently share information about your business. Tweets can include photos, videos, links (to your website or blog post).

Why Use Twitter?

People follow your Twitter account, and you follow other people. This allows you to read, reply to and easily share their tweets with your followers (this is called retweeting) which helps you build an audience and relationships with not only your customers but also other businesses like you. It's best to not only use Twitter to promote yourself but to also promote others. This will spread your brand awareness and help you get the message out about what your business offers.

How Do I Use Twitter?

Be consistent with your brand

It is important that your Twitter presence have the same look and feel as other aspects of your marketing tools. People will be able to identify you and will trust you. Choose an account name and images consistent with your other online presences and your brand.Your Twitter profile header is similar to the Facebook cover photo, your header photo appears at the top of your profile page. Use the same photo so you are consistent across social media platforms.

Follow and Find Followers

In general, start following these people:

Your customers

Your business partners, suppliers, contractors and vendors

Your competitors or peers

Businesses in your neighborhood

Businesses run by people you know

Get Tweeting!

There are a few different ways you can communicate on Twitter: Tweet (post your own message), Retweet (post a message from someone else using the retweet button), Direct Message (send a private message to another user), Mention (use someone's twitter name in your own tweet), and Reply (respond to another tweet which then goes to the person you are replying to and your followers

Use Hashtags

A hashtag is a word with # before it and is a way to search and follow topics on Twitter. With the OldCity twitter account, using and following #StAugustine helps us follow and be followed by those interested in talking about happenings around town.

Hopefully this helps and is a good introduction for how to get started with Twitter or how to improve your current Twitter experience. Happy Tweeting!

Build and Develop a Social Media Presence for Your Business

October 9, 2014 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Build - Once you choose the social media platform(s) you want to utilize to increase online awareness of your brand, set up your profile(s) including a short, compelling bio to attract people letting them know who you are and what you do. Having a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Places, and YouTube in addition to your website can push your business up in rankings on browser searches. Include links to your website so that people can learn more about you and your small business.

Connect - To connect with your community and your existing and potential clients, you need to keep up with your page. Ask your friends, current clients, and other small businesses in your area to like and share your pages. Like and share their pages as well. Add a link to your email signature to your website, too. Establishing a presence on a social media platform requires active, consistent participation.

Engage - Social media is not meant to be one-way communication. You may use it to spread your message, share your business, and broaden awareness about who you are and what you do, but you must do this both by sharing and also participating in two-way communication. Listen to your customers and create community with other businesses and clients. Make your social media page not all about you. The 80/20 rule is a good one to follow: 80% of your activity is being friendly through retweets and comments. The other 20% is your chance to contribute your own content. Be an active participant and engage your audience with relevant content instead of just promoting yourself. Ask your audience to participate in the conversation, share photos of them using your product or enjoying your services.

Influence - Your ability to influence depends on your credibility and your reach. A strong, professional and engaging social media presence adds to your credibility. Your reach can expand beyond the number of fans and followers you have as your customers share your content, products and services within their circles.

eCommerce Holiday Gift Ideas

December 4, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

It's time to start selling holiday-themed gifts online!

Cyber Monday isn't the only day shoppers go online to purchase great gifts for the holidays. Almost every day in December leading up to Christmas proves to be a profitable time for online storefronts. In fact, US eCommerce and Online Retail holiday sales reached $33.8 billion last year, up 13% from 2011. What does this mean to you? It means it's time to get creative by offering great products that make even better gifts! Below are a couple suggestions to get you started:

Gift Cards Make Great Gifts

Millions of people give the gift of cash on a card for Christmas. This is the easiest way to guarantee your gift will be used and appreciated. It's also a simple way for you to generate more revenue online even without an eCommerce shop. Who will buy your gift cards? Your loyal following and people who who have seen or used your products or services time and time again. Give your customers an incentive to purchase online that will intrigue them to come back to you. Christmas themed cards are nice, but even if you use traditional certificates, get creative with the envelope you put it in!

A Little Taste of Everything

Gift baskets or gift stockings make excellent holiday presents because they appeal to a larger group of consumers. Buyers like them because they make great stocking-stuffers and offer a variety of items for those they don't know very well.

Select small, inexpensive products and place them in a woven basket or unique stocking. Then, fill it with Christmas-themed decorations, candy or other goodies. Don't forget a business card and printed coupon for them to remember you by!

Finally, take a picture of the final product and upload it to the Home page of your site or if you have an online shop, put it as the featured or seasonal item. Visitors from all over the world will be able to purchase your gift baskets online and then let them choose to pick it up in-store or have it shipped directly to the recipient in time for the holidays!

Want to make sure your customers are quickly and easily finding your holiday-themed gifts online? Contact us for more info: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com or 904-867-4112

Are you ready for Black Friday?

November 29, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Last year, $59.1 billion was reportedly spent on this highly sought after event, which now spreads from the Thursday before to post Black Friday weekend deals, with Small Business Saturday on November 30 and Cyber Monday on December 2, closing out the weekend shopping extravaganza.

How can the small businesses compete with the big guys you ask? Here are three ways to help you enjoy a piece of the pie while shoppers seek the biggest and best deals of the year.

Freebie Giveaways

Try setting up a stand, booth or section of your store offering small gifts to your customers that compliment your products or services. You are sure to have a plethora of people in and out your doors this weekend, so take the opportunity to engage with them so that they'll leave with a little reminder of you for next time. Are you an eCommerce shop? Offer an exclusive Black Friday e-coupon gift!

Two Heads Are Better Than One

There's a lot of truth in the saying "power in numbers." Team-up with other small businesses to spread the word. For example, if you're a local restaurant that offers gift cards, come up with a deal, network with other restaurants offering similar deals, create a coupon code and promote the offer on one flyer including all of the participating company logos. Put a Christmas spin on it since Gift Cards make great holiday gifts!

Make it a Social Event

Host exclusive Black Friday deals via your social media networks. Make it something that only your social followers will see and can take advantage of. If you want to be really creative, try offering different deals on different networks! Just make sure you keep track of the in-store or online responses you receive.

Even though you're busy entertaining family and preparing a Thanksgiving feast, take some time to really think about ways to generate more revenue for your small business this Black Friday weekend. Most of all, have fun, be creative and don't forget to let us know how it went!

Holiday Marketing Tip Challenge

November 20, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

FACT: St. Augustine attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each holiday season.

Whether a visitor stays for one night or all month, it is widely known that during the holidays, tourism in the nation's oldest city is thriving. If you own a B&B, restaurant or tour company, you're probably busy answering the phone and responding to email inquires this time of year.

Even though you're busy, don't forget to engage your customers with holiday marketing initiatives! This season, Old City Web Services challenges you to try at least one of these three marketing tips. Test it out and then shoot us an email or give us a call to let us know if it was a success!

1. Dress-up your Facebook page

As you dress your turkey for Thanksgiving, why not dress-up your Facebook and Twitter pages while you're at it! Create a holiday-themed cover photo that includes one incentive to customers--a promotion, discount or giveaway. What better way to engage customers while getting into the holiday spirit at the same time.

Not sure what a Facebook cover photo is? Old City Web Services specializes not only in custom design, but in Social Media too! Contact Us for more info.

2. Invite your website to the party!

Is your website holiday-ready? Make sure your site is updated with holiday flare, such as photos from Nights of Lights, a video featuring how to make a delicious holiday treat or a new Christmas package/special. Add a minimum of one piece of holiday flare to your website that will let customers know you're the go-to business to visit during their stay in St. Augustine.

Do you have the flare, but not the web expertise? Contact Us for a quote on giving your site that extra holiday glitz you need!

3. Give thanks to your customers

This is the perfect time of year to give thanks to those who love and support, not only you, but your business too! Send out an email to your past and present customers, letting them know you appreciate their brand loyalty. It's almost guaranteed this will bring back at least one new sale or prospect. After all, what harm can it do? If anything, you will put smiles on your customers faces...what more could you ask for?

No way of getting the message out? Old City Web Services can design an e-mail template using your photos, logo and colors & text, upload your contact list(s) and send out a mass e-mail blast to all your customers for you! Contact Us for more info.

Hashtags for #Smallbiz

October 30, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Hashtags are something you definitely should be using when formulating tweets, assuming you already have a Twitter account dedicated to your small business that is. A hashtag is designated with a number sign (#) paired with a word or phrase (without any spaces or other characters) to perform a variety of functions. In the Twitter world, users attach hashtags to tweets as a search mechanism that categorizes keywords and phrases. For example, two hashtags commonly used by small businesses are #smallbiz or #smb. Attaching one of these to a tweet will help categorize your business, allowes users to find you. Want to begin using Hashtags on your #smallbiz Twitter account? Here are three tips to get you started:

1.) Keep it simple

When crafting hashtags, a good rule of thumb is to keep them simple and consistent. Long, complex tags are neither search-friendly nor commonly used. For example, if you want to tweet about a new app you recently launched, instead of tagging #Smallbusinessappsandtools, you're better off breaking it up and using two shorter tags, such as #smallbiz and #apps. This also increases the readability of your message. Lastly, don't be afraid to use abbreviations for words--there's a character limit for a reason!
2.) Be creative

Twitter allows users to create their own hashtags so don't be discouraged or think that just because you're a small business, your new tag won't be discovered. Both large and small brands create hashtags to generate buzz around a marketing campaign or to entice customers. For example, if you're having a contest for free concert tickets, you may want to create a hashtag that incorporates you and the band name (i.e. #StyxOldCity ). Your tweet could be something like: RT to win FREE TIX to the Styx Concert this WKND #StyxOldCity. Maybe provide a link to for people to get more information or purchase tickets online.

3.) Organization

Stay on top of trending and relevant hashtags by organizing your columns on your social dashboard. You can customize these columns by either your social networks, popular search terms or by specific hashtags. Not sure what a social dashboard is? Check out Hootsuite and TweetDeck--two social media dashboards that allow you to schedule, manage and analyze multiple networks in one centralized location.

Want to learn more about how to implement hashtags into your social media strategy? Contact us today by emailing us: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com or by giving us a call: 904.829.2772.

Need help updating your site

October 23, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Nobody likes to see outdated / false information on a company or organization's website. If your site currently has inaccurate information, such as dates, prices or ancient photos, it's time to think about an easier way to maintain this valuable investment of yours.

Setting aside time to update your site is often difficult for small business owners, especially when many already exceed 40+ hours a week running their business. Sometimes it's much easier (and more efficient) to let the professional manage it for you...and that's where we come in! Old City Web Services offers a monthly or quarterly update service for Content Management System websites. Let us spend a few hours each month or a little more each quarter, freshening up your site with new photos, updated pricing sheets, specials, media, links and more. These updates will help ensure customers keep coming back to your site. There is no better way to get repeat visitors than by making sure your site presents a new or different experience for users.

How does this work you may ask? First, we'll take a look at your website and then come up with a customized, viable and affordable plan that will suit your needs and schedule best. All you have to do is shoot us a quick email to: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com with the subject line "Help me update my site" and include your website URL and the best way/time to reach you. Our Project Manager will be in touch shortly to discuss!

Expand your reach via email marketing

August 7, 2013 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Want to know one of the best ways to stay in touch with your customers? Email marketing is an easy way to produce a message and get it to your audience within seconds. It's cost effective and, if done properly, can help build brand awareness and loyalty. This form of marketing can cost as little as a few cents per message and generally speaking, the response rates remain strong when it comes to opens and clicks. Because email is alive and kicking, email marketing is still a central channel for most businesses. With this being said, it has become increasingly important for small businesses to utilize email marketing properly. Below are 3 tactics to increasing your email marketing reach.

1. List Management

Collect, manage and send messages to segmented groups of customers by creating customized contact lists. Let a professional help you organize and manage your contacts in one place. Old City Web Services helps clients by quickly exporting contacts into an email marketing system, then grouping them accordingly (i.e. general interest, repeat guests, brides, etc). We will keep your lists current and manage both new subscribers and those who wish to unsubscribe.

2. Social Share

Not only are you reaching hundreds or thousands of customers via email, but you can increase the volume of people exposed to your messages by sharing your email campaigns with the company's social media followers. This creates potential to spread your message through the viral channels of social media.

3. Tracking

How many people opened your email? Of those people, how many forwarded your message to others? Did you gain or lose subscribers? All of these questions should be asked and analyzed to determine what's working and what's not in order to maximize the Return on Investment (ROI).

Let the professionals help! Old City Web Services offers email marketing campaigns catered to small businesses. Expand your reach today and start targeting your customers by giving us a call: 904.829.2772 or emailing us: letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.