Normally, most entrepreneurs are looking at shortcuts to
success through marketing. Everyone is
looking for a shiny new object to bring in more business, and there seems to be
no end to the number of “gurus” out there that will hawk a free report, or
recent book telling you about a “new secret”.In reality, there is nothing new under the sun, and the same exact principles that were used 40 years ago, will still bring home the bacon today.
(If you missed my last post you missed the fact that you
should get yourself a herd, tribe or a HIVE MIND COLLECTIVE as a proven way to
get more sales, conversions or loyalty.)
The technology of communicating the message has changed but
the formula for communicating the message is the same old, tried and true,
which is why any really good advertising copy writers will study works by guys
that earned their stripes years ago.
This is not to say that you should only learn how to write
or use static sales letter pages. I said
the technology has changed not the actual messages. For example, if you learned how to use it
properly, you could easily use Youtube videos to market your business, and many
people have done just that, to include myself.
As a matter of fact, just one of the many videos that I have
produced, Facebook for Beginners has pulled in a whopping 19,000 views.
Having said that, I would like to point out that if you try to just slap
together a thoughtless, unplanned and unclear message you will not get very
many views or conversions on any level.
One of my pet peeves is a video wherein a person just
gets on there and rambles on incessantly about their business. These folks make these “marketing messages”
while driving their cars, sitting at tables, etc.
You can usually tell that they put very little thought into these messages or that they did the entire production with their left hand. I could never really figure out why anyone would even watch a video like this, because it usually doesn't help you or tell you anything that you don't already know.
If the marketing message doesn't connect with the
viewer, àclickß the viewer goes elsewhere.
That’s the problem with all of this new-fangled technology is one click and you’re
gone.
It’s a little different with a highly crafted direct mail
piece that you've got in your hands, but if that medium isn't crafted and
formatted properly, it’ll wind up in the trash too.
So, what is this new-fangled marketing trend mentioned in
the title? Well, recently Forbes Magazine unleashed its Top 10 Brand andMarketing Trends for 2014, and low and behold, mobile marketing should be optimized is number 9 on that
list.
Trend spotters got this right several years ago when they
accurately predicted mobile methods of accessing and using the Internet would
go mainstream. This means that when you design a webpage it has got to be optimized in a fashion that is
acceptable to smaller devices than a laptop.
Years ago, I used to build my own websites so I know how the
process works. However, as a down and
dirty marketer, I learned that more complicated, sexy web design is expensive,
harder to maintain and more difficult to make changes to.
Don’t get me wrong, if you are Amazon, Zappos, eBay or any
of the other online giants, you have a complex e-commerce site. I get it.
However, if you are a mid to small time business, you may want to do the smart
thing and have a Flash free, easy website that is easy to post regularly
to.
(Notice I am using WordPress and Blogger for my sites
because they are easy to use, post new material to and if optimized properly,
do fairly well in the search engines for the keywords you are targeting. You can still have a single, stable sales
page and if post articles regularly, you will get noticed by the search engines
a little easier.)
My disclaimer on this
advice is: I am not a professional web designer, although, I have a degree
in Education Technology and have built professional websites for business and
educational purposes. I know that there
are probably a bunch of web designers that are going to descend on me with all
of their technical terms and wizardry, telling me how I should be hoisted up by
my ankles and flogged until sunset for this bad Web design advice.
However: I am right, and never wrong, so there!
My point is, that if you are designing simple sites, or using
WordPress or Blogger (which are already optimized for mobile formats
automatically) you shouldn’t have to worry.
If you are hard-coding your own complex, Flash induced website, you will
probably need to brush up on what the mobile marketing formats are and keep
abreast of the trends in this area.
TIP: One of the
ways you can always get people to come to your site in the mobile format is to
create an app that connects to your website.
If you can put a regularly updated piece of information on your site then
the app will connect to your page to access that particular information.
You can always hire someone from an
outsourcing site like oDesk or eLance to create your app for a very reasonable
price. The trick of creating an app like that is that it needs to
be conducive to your niche or business.
You don’t want a weather update on a site that has a comic book or cooking
niche.
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