Aboriginal Buying Group

Advertising on Facebook

What?  Come on don’t tell me you did not know that you can advertise on Facebook.  Have you ever been to Facebook?  If not, you should try it out. 

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social networking site that allows you to connect with people you already know and make new friends in the process.  There are tons of applications and games.  There are also tons of businesses already on Facebook.  

How do you get a profile on Facebook?

Go to www.facebook.com.  When you get there, you can create an account for your business.  Make a profile page.  Include everything that you want people to know about your business.  You can choose to find friends for your business by importing your address book from your email account.  If any of the recipients have an account on Facebook already, it will send them a friend request for your business page.  Then you are off and running.  Once you have friends added for your page, you will be shown to their friends as ‘people you may know’.  It is essentially a way to exponentially increase your friend list and get your name out there.

What else can Facebook do for your business?

Every single page on Facebook has ads, like business LED signs.  Some of these are pay per click.  You can put an ad up and get specifically targeted customers with pay per click.  Also, every single Facebook application has at least one banner ad at the top of the screen and sometimes banner ads at the bottom too.  Some of these applications tend to be a bit addictive so people keep coming back to them again and again.  A lot of people will get curios about a banner that catches their eye or one that they see repeatedly on a lot of pages.  When they get curious what do you think they do?  That’s right!  They click on it.  If that is your banner they click on, then guess what.  That’s one more effective advertisement for you.  Because Facebook has such a widespread user base, your ads will be seen by people all over not just the country, but the world. 

Keeping on top of your Facebook account

You should probably check your Facebook account at least once a day to accept any friend requests and update your status.  Your status is a way to let everyone on your friends list know what is going on with your company.  For example, if you are going to have a huge sale on your products next weekend, then in your status message you could have a countdown to the sale day, or you could even use their event planner to send out invitations and get RSVP’s back.  That feature is very useful as well.  In essence, Facebook has the potential to be a very useful tool in your marketing arsenal, just like led message signs.  Used properly, Facebook can increase your client base by a very broad margin and the best part is that a Facebook account is free. 

Offline, Off-line or Off Line, no matter how you spell it the meaning is the same when we talk about marketing offline. Offline Marketing is promoting your business using tools and techniques that are not connected to a computer, though the marketing can be used to promote a business that is on the Internet, the tactics are decidedly old school and happen in the physical world not the virtual world.

Think back to when you built your first business, maybe as a child you had a lemonade stand. Noise combined with huge signs were some of the tactics we used to get noticed and sell products. Whatever crossed our minds as a way to promote out lemonade was a good idea.” There are hundreds of offline marketing tips to choose from, try as many as your budget can afford and find the ones that work best for your business.

It may have never crossed our mind that we were using offline marketing tactics, nor that we might fail to sell all the lemonade our mothers had made for us. We knew our friends would go to the movies on the weekend, we sold things to get the money to join them. Failure was not an option when we we kids, if one car didn’t stop the next one would.

Offline Marketing is all about creating something in the empty space that presents itself to you. Empty space is like a garden, it is just waiting for ideas to be used like seeds and soon it will produce.

Your imagination can see this Marketing Space just like you saw the space as a kid for selling lemonade. You setup the stand and get customers to see it. No more then a few people can drive by without buying something before you make lots of noise.

Filling the space can be as simple as having your little sister shaking pompoms or something more complicated like blocking the road, your buddies could drive bikes around in a circle, forcing the cars to slow down and stop.

While your mother is red faced at your overt tactics of filling the Marketing Space she is also very proud of your ingenuity and drive. Each new thought in offline marketing builds upon opportunity of success.

Empty space is Opportunity. Empty space is all around just waiting for you to plug into it. Empty space is a dream come true not just for the advertising professional but also for the do-it-yourself small business owner. Empty space and offline marketing demand to be together where they can help you generate both online and offline traffic and create a successful business.

Check out the this list of offline marketing tips, it will give you new ideas along with many ideas that have been building offline marketing success for decades.

For a promoter starting out they have to work hard and on a budget to get an audience of a few hundred people to fill a venue. Flyers, word-of-mouth and media name checks are some of the tools promoters use to fill small venues or club nights. It is not easy building up a loyal following from scratch. Attracting enough people to fill even the smallest of venues can be a challenge for any up and coming band and those promoting the band shouldn’t miss the opportunity to establish a relationship with the audience that will continue beyond the end of the evening.

With a minimal outlay and a little thought online surveys will help the promoter gather valuable feedback and the opportunity to establish a long term relationship with their audience. Using online Survey Software a promoter can now quickly and easily create an online survey.

With an online survey a promoter can find out exactly:-

• who attended;
• what persuaded them;
• what they thought of the event;
• would they expect to attend again;
• would they recommend future events to their friends.

A good way to ensure a good response is to have a supply of business sized cards that are marked clearly with a slogan like “Feedback”, “Your opinion counts”, “Tell us what you thought”. Each card would display an address that points either directly to the survey or to a website where a link to the survey can be placed. The cards can be issued at the door with the tickets, or handed out among the audience and being the size of business cards they are small enough to be stuck in a pocket, purse or wallet. A small incentive may improve the response rate, perhaps the chance to win a free guest pass for a future event, a signed CD or T shirt.

Using the results from online surveys the promoter is able to:

• Obtain a profile of the audience
• Gauge the overall success of the event;
• Measure the effectiveness of different promotion;
• Receive feedback on the venue and facilities;
• Receive feedback on the act;
• Promote on a one on one basis;
• Build a targeted database for future events;
• Build a loyal audience;
• Link to merchandise and other promotions.

It takes considering effort to promote an event and only a little extra effort to use online surveys to encourage further contact and reap a number of short and long term benefits that contact will bring.

The following sample survey shows the feedback that could be used for a breaking band. Not only does it gather valuable feedback, but continues to promote the band, their recorded music and establishes the opportunity to encourage further contact.

Sample Feedback Survey

To view the summary results of the survey: Sample Survey Results

Many promoters starting out have to work hard and on a shoestring to get an audience of a few hundred people to fill a venue. Flyers, word-of-mouth and media name checks are some of the tools promoters use to fill small venues or club nights. It is not easy building up a loyal following from scratch. For an up and coming band a lot of effort can go into attracting enough people to fill even the smallest of venues and those promoting the event need to take every opportunity to establish a relationship with the audience that will continue beyond the end of the performance.

With a little thought and small outlay online surveys can be used to provide the promoter with valuable feedback and the opportunity to engage in further contact with the audience. Using online Survey Software a promoter can now quickly and easily create an online survey.

With an online survey a promoter can find out exactly:-

• who attended;
• what persuaded them;
• what they thought of the event;
• would they expect to attend again;
• would they recommend future events to their friends.

A good way to ensure a good response is to have a supply of business sized cards that are marked clearly with a slogan like “Feedback”, “Your opinion counts”, “Tell us what you thought”. Each card would have a web address pointing either directly to the survey or to a website where a link to the survey can be placed. Cards can be issued at the door with the tickets, or handed out among the crowd and if they are made the size of business cards they will be small enough to be slipped into a pocket, purse or wallet. Small incentives such as a chance to win a free guest pass for a future event, a signed CD or T shirt would help towards improving the response rate.

Using the results from online surveys the promoter is able to:

• Obtain a profile of the audience
• Gauge the overall success of the event;
• Measure the effectiveness of different promotion;
• Receive feedback on the venue and facilities;
• Receive feedback on the act;
• Promote on a one on one basis;
• Build a targeted database for future events;
• Build a loyal audience;
• Link to merchandise and other promotions.

Considering the effort that it takes to promote an event and the little extra effort required in using online surveys to encourage further contact and all the immediate and long term benefits that will bring – it really couldn’t be any easier.

The following sample survey shows the feedback that could be used for a breaking band. It not only gathers valuable feedback, but continues to promote the band, their CD and gives the opportunity to encourage further contact.

Sample Feedback Survey

To view the summary results of the survey: Sample Survey Results

Your customers are demanding. They are extremely media aware and increasingly cynical and it is a clever marketeer who can get under their skin. Online surveys modernizes the traditional format – all the benefits of the Internet without the programming. Here are ten reasons why they may be the silver bullet marketeers’ need, complete with examples supplied by Martin Day, managing director of Survey Galaxy - one of a new breed of websites making online surveys quicker and cheaper

1. It’s cheap as chips
Select the right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and the cost to publish excellent value for money.
Useful information derived from survey analysis can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.

2. It’s easy
Anyone can develop and publish an online survey. Survey sites allow people who are interested in the benefits of surveys, rather than technicalities, to side-step the required programming skills and create relevant up-to-the-minute surveys, instantly – surveys that are even easier to complete than they are to make.

3. Canvas the world
Once the survey is online it’s a simple step to promote it, either through email (with a link enclosed), via a link from a website or referenced by other forms of advertising. Anyone who has the link can be connected instantly to the survey, at a time that’s convenient to them, 24×7.

4. We’ve all got an opinion – and we like to give it
The majority of customers do not view surveys as spam and will welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and have the chance to make an impact on a brand. They can be particularly good for change management projects; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows the key issues to be raised in a positive manner and encourages employee participation. Online surveys allow the message to reach each individual and invite feedback in a manageable form.

5. Get inside their heads
You can lead a customer to an advertisement but you can’t make them read it. Surveys actively engage the respondent, who read and then think about the question before giving their response.

6. Build a relationship
It needn’t all end at the end of the survey – while you have their attention and are in the mood you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making the most of the window when you have their interest.

7. Link your survey to other online information
Perhaps one of the strongest elements in a survey is the ability to make inspired or useful connections instantly to other areas. By including links within the survey you are able to reinforce the marketing message.

8. Subtle marketing
Surveys can be used to associate a product with positive attributes. By listing the many features of a product and then asking the respondent to say how important the features are to them, regardless of their response, the respondent will associate the product with the features.

9. Not just marketing
A survey is an effective, quick and easy method to help promote and gain acceptance for a difficult proposal; such as a public body trying to gain acceptance and support for a particular scheme.
For example take a city trying to gain support from the general public for their bid to host a future Olympic Games. With a survey you have the opportunity to explain each benefit putting the respondent in a much better frame of mind to appreciate an argument and be more positive in their response. Using the feedback that is received the overall marketing strategy can be fine tuned.

10. Fresh topics engage interest
By thinking laterally a lively and imaginative approach to surveys could provide a ‘hook’ to engage respondents. The survey subject can be focused towards a particular group on a subject close to theirs hearts. A survey’s marketing message can take the form of a simple brand awareness message by stating that the survey is being sponsored by brand name, or by finding a link from the subject matter to the product – something that is surprisingly easy and highly effective.

Discover the benefits of including in your website a Public Survey section as many people who enjoy completing crosswords and doing word puzzles enjoy completing surveys. Low cost and automated, having a public survey notice board as part of a website will help increase traffic and establish a loyal and returning following. Unlike forums there is no opportunity for people to disrupt the site by inappropriate remarks as survey results can be displayed in summary form enabling them to dispense with moderators and maintenance.

Customers do not often view surveys as spam and the majority welcome the opportunity to voice their opinion and the chance to have an impact on a brand.

Many of the techniques and a few more are contained in the following Sample Marketing Survey.

You’ve had that old website for far too long and it’s high time for a custom website design that is creatively designed with your company’s future goals in mind.  The value of a professional, results-driven, customized website cannot be overemphasized, and must never be neglected in your marketing plans.

Today’s professional website design and internet professionals know far more than they did 10 years ago about how to create web sites that target your potential customers, how to grab their attention with an effective message, and how to turn them into buyers who come back to buy from you again and again. At Effect, our SEO consultants and custom website development experts also possess innovative tracking tools that allow us to undeniably prove to you the immense value ofour professional Website Consulting services. If only your radio, television, print, and other marketing projects could say that.

Search engine optimization provides a higher return on investment than any other line item in your current marketing budget. Guaranteed. If this were not true, our consultants would be working in another field. At Effect Web Media, we are daily and passionately driven to achieve the results our customers demand. In order to measure the success of our professional website design projects, we have developed award-winning, fully-customized tracking tools that show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we will deliver what others only promise, over and over.

That’s why clients stick around, instead of trying “another something different”, over and over again, and never getting proof of the results they wanted originally. Even if your business is not involved in e-commerce, it’s important to note that online search engines have become the “Yellow Pages” of today. When people are out looking for a specific product or service, more than half will first go online to find potential suppliers, consultants, and dealers. You simply don’t have any more time and money to waste. You may not appreciate this until you’ve tried our services to see for yourself how quickly and affordably the right, professional SEO Company can improve your company’s bottom line.

As we value your time and budget, we work carefully and skilfully to maximize the effectiveness of every single aspect of your website – from how it looks, to how it communicates, to how it reports continuous, positive results back to you. Simply put, if your business can’t be found on page one of search engines such as Google and Yahoo, you are as good as invisible to customers searching online for a company like yours. Winning the competition for new and repeat business is far more sophisticated a process than even the savviest marketers today are fully informed about. Because the working world of the affordable SEO changes daily, we make it our core business to stay ahead of the pack as we pass on our expertise, skill, knowledge and results to our loyal customers.