Marketing, Social Media & Technology
Suze Bragg and Sima Dahl join forces to deliver timely insights on the best marketing, social media and technology solutions for your business. Whether you're a newly minted entrepreneur or an industry veteran, you'll find tips and practical advice you can leverage in your business today. Recent Posts
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Posted by Sima Dahl on December 3, 2009
Spotlight on Success takes a look at real businesses achieving brand visibility and driving sales through better social media and marketing.  In the Spotlight: Ryan Hunt, Owner of Ryan Hunt Fitness talks about his success with Promotions and Give-Aways. Q. Ryan, I recently discovered your business through a promotion you were running - tell us about it. A. One of my clients is involved with a group called Step Up Women's Network. They were hosting a big gala event in Chicago and my client asked me to contribute something for the goodie bag so I donated o...Read More Industries: Sales and Marketing 
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 30, 2009
As I was reading a blog by Aashish Malve about his predictions for 2010 (I think he's spot on), I read about crowdsourcing; a testing method used for years by the software industry that is now becoming more mainstream. Per Wikipedia, crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. The difference between crowdsourcing and ordinary outsourcing is that a task or problem is outsourced to an undefined public rather than a specific other body. The difference between crowdsourcing and open source is that open source production is a cooperative activity initiated and voluntarily undertaken by members of the public....Read More
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 29, 2009
The presentation is by Heather Oldani, U.S. Communications Director at McDonalds. Worth viewing if you're a small business to see what the big guys are doing. ...Read More
Posted by Sima Dahl on November 25, 2009
The good folks from Google have yet another new tool that has brand marketers and business owners scrambling for deeper understanding: Sidewiki. Sidewiki lets any web surfer publish their own thoughts, opinions and commentary right from their browser. Sidewiki is the digital equivalent of a sticky note stuck on your website for all the world to see. Think about this for a moment... I can visit your company website and with just a few keystrokes, instantly publish the intimate details of my recent argument with your store clerk, my opinions on your return policy, or where to find the same products for less just up the block. Power to the People Regular readers of my column have long heard me say that the consumer is the ulimate...Read More Industries: Sales and Marketing
Posted by Sima Dahl on November 23, 2009
It's no secret that the recession is forcing marketers and business owners to test less expensive ways to raise visibility and generate sales than more traditional methods such as advertising, and digital and social marketing tops the list. But here's the thing - these new tools are proving to be more than just affordable, they're also effective. Go Where The Buyers Are Consider where consumer's spend their time. Leading Forrester Research anlayst Josh Bernoff, in an article for Marketing News, writes that according to Forrester consumers spend 35% of their media time on the Internet but marketers spend just 12% of their total budget there. Don't Replace, Amplify I've long said that social media alone cannot save your brand, but if you're doing smart marketing, social media and digital campaigns can am...Read More Industries: Sales and Marketing
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 21, 2009
Based on the background in explained in the previous 3 blogs, here are 7 tactics to incorporate in an overall strategy:1. Instill confidence in your potential consumers through your Web site. Write in their language using terms that they can use, using navigation that makes logical sense, and enabling simple-to-load graphics. Don't hide information that people want by making them wade their marketing speak. Trust me on this one. [Or just check your exit rates in your analytics.] 2. Create a unified brand through everything offline and online. Does your store (point-of-purchase) have the same look and feel as your online imagery? Is the language the same? Is the messaging the same? ...Read More
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 20, 2009
[Part 3]As computers became more affordable and access to the Internet became faster, people migrated toward Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace because it afforded them a quick, simple way to stay in contact with their friends and family. As a society, people trust information they receive from other like-minded people, and they started using these types of Web sites for information about products, companies, software, etc. If Aunt Mabel posted that she bought a couch from American Furniture and had a good experience, cousin Rachel may check that store first when she's looking for a new couch. These types of Web sites are called social media for a reason: They enable people to interact socially via their computers. It's become as mu...Read More
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 19, 2009
[Part 2]With over a billion people using the Internet at some time during the day, companies needed to figure out a way to stand out; to be more than just a page of information. Webmasters, along with their marketing counterparts, began watching how people's eyes tracked over a computer screen while viewing a Web site. They noted the words or phrases people clicked on, the areas they looked at first and where they looked the least, and the patterns their eyes followed as they scanned the page. Based on what webmasters and marketers learned, they began creating Web sites that catered to this new information. Companies were delighted because now they knew how to tailor content and ad messaging in a subtle way, without overwhelming consumers. This led to finer tuned behavioral targeting; which fed peo...Read More
Posted by Sima Dahl on November 16, 2009
Internet-savvy shoppers are increasingly turning to social media to guide their holiday purchases – will you be there to influence them? Studies Show... According to a recent article by eMarketer, shoppers who are already conditioned to compare prices and seek out coupons and discounts online are seeking more of the same from social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Research conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation and Yesmail shows that 27% of online shoppers who plan to both research and buy holiday gifts online this year will look for ideas about what friends and family want on sites such as Facebook. And nearly one-half (45%) will use social networks to research items, compare prices and look for offers. About one-fifth of online holi...Read More Industries: Sales and Marketing
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 14, 2009
When people think of the concept online or the term Internet, they usually think of people sitting at a computer, typing in a word or phrase on a Web site, searching for a product, or using email to communicate with friends. Companies such as Google or Yahoo know that when someone performs a search, the first links that appear in the results are usually the links the person selects. If the first link selected doesn't have the information they're looking for, they'll continue to next item, or type in new information to be searched.This search methodology is the basis that brought Google and Yahoo into existence. They understood that once a person started seeking information online instead of watching television or visiting a store, companies that appeared at the top ...Read More
Posted by Suze Bragg on November 11, 2009
As I read through an article titled, "Why We Join: A Sociological and Psychological Analysis of Brand Communities" by Jenny Lee, PhD, I look around my desk and down at my clothing and realize I am brandless. That's right; there is not a single brand that has my loyalty at this moment. Starbucks, once my tried and true coffee, has now given way to whatever's the most convenient. My sweater is cashmere from a consignment store. My jeans came from some big box store last year. My shoes...comfortable. My mountain bike...eBay. I am typing on a PC, but I also own a Mac. I consider myself a loyalist of neither. The only community I'm currently a member of, besides Facebook thanks to the convenience factor, is the outdoors. If I walk into a store, I...Read More
Posted by Sima Dahl on November 10, 2009
In my last post about Email Calls to Action I referenced a cool Google tool that allows you to quickly create forms. The ability to create forms resides within a larger set of tools called Google docs. Google docs provide a handy way to create documents, presentations and spreadsheets online and then easily share them with other people. You can provide Read Only or Edit access. For example, I have created a private Google spreadsheet to manage my growing list of online passwords, and another public spreadsheet which tracks the restaurants my Ethnic Dinner Club has visited. The former is perfectly secure and accessible only to me but I freel...Read More Industries: Sales and Marketing
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