Website Promotion Strategy

If you’ve got a business blog – or are thinking of starting a blog for your business or company – chances are good you’ve read a lot about How to Blog for Business. The problem with most of the advice you’ll read is that it’s written by people who don’t blog FOR business – they blog AS a business. The tips they swear by are great for people who make most of their money from a blog – not so hot if your plan for blog marketing is less about marketing your blog and more about marketing your business WITH a blog. If your plan is to use a blog to boost traffic to your business website or reach out to new customers, there are some major blog marketing rules that really won’t work for you. These blog marketing (and social media promotion) rules were made to be broken.

Blog Every Day

If your blog is your major business and you’re trying to build an audience – and a library – this is great advice. If you actually own and work in a business, though, toss this one on the trash heap. The biggest blog sites on the Internet actually employ multiple writers to post new content constantly throughout the day – who can keep up with that? You’re not trying to get a million viewers a day who are looking for something new every half hour. In most cases, the ideal posting frequency for a business blog is once or twice a week.

Always Write Your Own Blog Posts

The fact is that writing and maintaining a blog takes time – and for you, your time is better spent working in your business. There are certainly times when it makes sense to write your own blog posts – if your name is attached to them, for example (and even then, some of the best-known bloggers in the business employ ghost writers sometimes). If, however, your main goal for starting a blog is to direct links and visitors to your main website, it makes far more sense to outsource that work to a blog writing service.

Keep Titles and Posts Short

The popular wisdom is that Internet readers are too impatient to read a lot of words. Turns out that’s not so true. In fact, if you’re looking for lots of Facebook shares and clicks (via social media marketing), longer titles – with an attention-getting hook – are better. People are more likely to click through if the title piques their interest. The best titles have up to 80 characters. Likewise, posts with more words tend to be shared and liked more often on Facebook and via Twitter. The key is to provide useful, well-organized information that’s hard to find elsewhere – and that takes more words.

Concentrate on One Social Media Platform

It used to be that social media marketing folks would tell you to figure out where your customers were hanging out, and then focus on that one social media platform. These days, all of the social media platforms overlap – and they’re each useful in distinctly different ways. If you put all your blog marketing eggs on Facebook, you’re going to miss out on the perks of Twitter sharing, and vice versa. The trick is to repackage content for sharing, and use it to bring traffic back to your business website.

Sounds like more work than you’re prepared to do? Blog marketing and social media promotion is what we do. Check out our blog marketing packages and blog writing services to learn how we can help you with your blog writing needs.

When it comes to blog marketing, a crafts-based blog may seem narrowly focused. In reality, there are many ways that a crafty blog can help with your social media marketing strategy. Here are just some of the reasons why, and the ways you can use a crafting blog to build your customer base.

Crafters are a loyal lot. Whether they knit, sew, quilt, take photographs, build furniture or throw pots, people who create crafts share a few important characteristics:

• They spend money on their crafts.
• They are almost always willing to try something new.
• They often engage in an activity that requires them to buy consumables.
• When they find something they like, they tell other crafters about it.
• They’re always looking for new project ideas.

Think about those characteristics for a moment and consider how they apply to desirable traits for your business customers. Don’t you want customers who spend money, need to buy more of what you’re selling, are willing to try new products and tell all their friends about you? Uh-huh. Thought so. While there are obviously some businesses that aren’t obviously compatible with a blog focusing on crafts, there are many more that could benefit from deliberately courting crafters with blog posts that center on making things.

So what types of business would benefit from a craft blog – or at least from occasional-to-regular blog posts about crafty subjects – and what are the best blog marketing strategies to use?

• Affiliate marketing businesses can use a blog to post patterns, how-tos and tips for crafters, linking to products that they get a commission for selling.
• Craft supply stores can post news about sales, crafting tips, patterns and how-tos for cute items using the products they sell. An onsite blog can link internally to products used in the blog marketing posts.
• Crafters can share tips, patterns, hints, instructions and, of course, photos of their work with links to buy finished products.
• B2B suppliers who carry any type of crafting supply can post about new products and their uses and instructions or tips for using their products to build demand for their products. An especially good marketing strategy is to encourage store owners to create samples with your products, and to encourage customers to recommend your products to their favorite stores.
• Bridal and/or events-based businesses can focus some posts on DIY favors, bouquets and table-settings. It’s a great way to attract brides and event planners to your main business website.
• Bakeries can benefit from the same blog marketing and social media promotion strategies, substituting cake-decorating tips and baking tips for patterns and crafting tips.
• Dollar stores and/or retail stores can post occasional posts about “made with our inventory” crafts. A once- or twice-weekly craft project featuring products from your store can quickly build a library of go-to projects for your local customers.
• Art supply businessescan benefit from a combination of the above strategies, as well as featuring posts about local shows and events related to arts and crafts.

Don’t have the time or the inclination to create your own crafty blog for content marketing purposes? Check out our blog marketing packages and social media promotion services to find out how we can help you build your business using blog marketing.

The holiday buying season is in full swing, and the early reports on sales are a mixed bag. According to the New York Times, Thanksgiving weekend sales were down a disappointing 11 percent in retail stores. That news was offset by the news that Cyber Monday online sales hit new highs. According to Time magazine, online sales for Cyber Monday topped $2 billion, making it the largest E-commerce day in history. This could be the year that online sales outpace in-store sales across the board.

The increase in online sales is especially important during the holiday season when, according to the National Retail Association, retailers do more than 10 percent of their annual business. That percentage is even greater in certain business niches. Jewelry stores, for example, do nearly 23 percent of their annual business during December and another 9 percent during November, accounting for nearly one-third of their business for the year. Other businesses also do more than their average share of business during December, including 15.3 percent for retail chain stores, 13.6 percent for and apparel and accessory stores, 13.4 percent for electronics stores and 13.5 percent for sporting goods stores.

Because of the high conversion rates and increased traffic, many Internet marketing experts recommend an online marketing strategy that includes buying targeted Web traffic as a major component. The strategy involves redirecting website visitors who click on a category link on a high-traffic website to a specific business website. It uses a mix of direct links and other ad strategies to send traffic directly to customer websites from targeted links. Unlike random visitors, those who click a targeted link are genuinely interested in buying a specific type of product or service. Because they are already primed to buy or seeking information on a specific topic, targeted Web visitors convert at higher rates than basic traffic. The higher rates make traffic provided by Majon International more valuable than many other types of website promotion, including email ad campaigns.

For retailers hoping to take advantage of the trend, online marketing specialist Majon International notes that the best way to boost online sales is to ramp up Web traffic to their websites for the holidays. The company offers a selection of targeted Web traffic packages to retailers who want to increase their website visitors by 10,000, 20,000, 60,000 or even 100,000 each month.  Majon uses a network of its own high-traffic websites and network partners to send up to 100,000 unique, targeted US-based visitors to small business websites in the category they select. For more information about targeted Web traffic packages, visit the Majon International website.

Summary: Majon International, a leading online marketing service, stresses the importance of ramping up web traffic for the holidays and gives some tips about how to do it.

There’s no question that the holiday season is a huge one for any retail establishment. When your sales happen in a brick and mortar storefront, it’s easy to discount what your blog can do for you – and neglect it over the holidays. That’s a shame, because your blog and social media accounts can bring lots and lots of holiday shoppers through your doors in the lead up to Christmas. Here are just five ways to use blog marketing and social media promotion to snag your share of the holiday spending.

Publicize Holiday Specials on Your Blog

Put together a list of specials you’re running and publicize each of them in separate blog posts. Make sure that your posts offer more than just the price – build value into the post with gift suggestions (for products), meal suggestions (for food and groceries) or entertaining suggestions.

Link to Your “Specials” Posts from an Offsite Blog

If you’re working with a blog writing service to maintain an offsite blog linking back to your business website, have them boost your sales posts with links, too. Soft sell posts and recommendations with gift ideas and holiday tips are very shareable.

Promote Your Posts and Your Business on Facebook

Keep in mind that Facebook calls for different types of content than a blog. Add a pithy, cute or memorable status to your blog link before sharing it on your Facebook page, or pick a great graphic to make it more shareable. In addition to sharing your own blog posts on your Facebook page, stock up on some holiday-themed memes that are appropriate for your business, and add a marketing message to them as well.

Tweet Your Holiday Blog Posts

With just 140 characters to work with (including the link to your blog!), you have to be economical with your Twitter promotion. Three ways to maximize Twitter engagement include:

• Craft an attention-grabbing title and tweet the title with the link.
• Use a link-shortening service to save characters for your marketing message.
• Preview the content in your tweet with a line like “I never knew you could use candy canes this way!”

Get Personal with a Holiday Greeting

Even if you work with a blog writing service, this is the time of year to get personal with your customers. Drop the business-like language and reach out with a holiday greeting from your heart – even if someone else writes it for you.

Our blog marketing service is tailored to help you make the most of your blog promotion and social media marketing opportunities. Don’t leave the holiday bonuses sitting on the table. Let us help you take advantage of the holiday spirit.

Tis the season when shoppers spend lots and lots of cash. If you’re making the right moves on your business blog and with your social media promotion accounts, your business could be in line to reap a nice holiday helping of that holiday cheer. Not sure how to make that happen? Here are some ways to get your blog marketing and social media strategy together for the holidays.

Promote a Holiday Deal

Use your blog to promote special holiday pricing, a holiday sale or a holiday-themed giveaway. Whether your goal is to add more people to your mailing list or bring more happy holiday shoppers to your store, promote your event with a series of blog posts announcing the details, followed up with promotion from your social media accounts to make sure the word gets out on all channels.

Add Some Seasonal Spice to Your Photos

A picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s never more true than during the holidays. Put your products in a holiday setting and get the photos out there via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. If you sell food, for example, take a picture of it as part of a festive holiday meal. Take a photo of gift-y products surrounded by wrapping paper, or put a bow on it. Even service operations can get in on the fun – take photos of your staff in Santa hats or brandishing candy canes as they get into the holiday spirit. If you work with a blog marketing service, supply them with holiday-themed photos they can add to your social media promotion lineup.

Post Holiday Themed How-Tos

Use your blog and social media accounts to offer holiday DIY projects and tips for the season geared to your business. A wellness coach, for example, might post tips for beating holiday stress. If you sell cupcakes, offer tips on decorating cupcakes for the holidays – they give you a great opportunity to showcase your own work.

Engage People with Holiday-Themed Posts

No matter what your business is, there are ways to spin some holiday cheer into your business blog posts. Get creative in your thinking. Even dentists can get in on the fun – why not post a list of top ten stocking stuffers that won’t rot your teeth? A band page can list favorite Christmas songs to add to your caroling event.

During the holidays, blog and social media marketing takes on dual roles – engaging your customers and generating leads or sales. Our blogging services can help you craft a productive and profitable social media and blogging strategy to boost your business profile and ring those holiday bells from the front door to the cash register.