If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve been hearing about various mobile trends in integrated marketing. And maybe you’ve entertained the idea of how a mobile app could help your business. If you haven’t figured out whether you can afford to build one, or how to go about it, this brief overview will give you a few places to start.

First determine how an app would benefit your customers. For example, the hair-cutting franchise Great Clips launched an app that allows customers to see estimated wait times in their area, and easily make an appointment without calling. Consequently, stylists also save time by not having to interrupt haircuts to answer the phone so often.

Below are a few sites that can easily and cost-effectively help you build your own mobile app. Most of these, plus others, can be found in the book “Go Mobile: Location-Based Marketing, Apps, Mobile Optimized Ad Campaigns, 2D Codes and Other Mobile Strategies to Grow Your Business” by Jeanne Hopkins and Jamie Turner.

Yapp

This free service focuses on the tech novice who wants an app for a specific event, like a conference or wedding. It includes directions, news, updates, and photo-sharing features. Yapp is limited in its functionality, but requires little-to-no technical know-how.

MyAppBuilder

Authors are turning books into apps. Bands are turning albums into apps. If you’ve got the content, the MyAppBuilder team will create an app for you for $29/month. No tech experience necessary. They’ll also upload it to the app store for you.

AppMakr

This web-based editor is designed to let you quickly create your own iPhone app. The basic tool is free. Advanced features are available for a $79/month fee. AppMakr works on the iOS, Android and Windows operating systems.

Mippin

The Mippin platform lets you create apps for Android, iOS and Windows, and offers app designs for individuals, small businesses, media owners and products. Native apps can cost as much as $999/year.

GENWI

​A cloud-based mobile Content Management System (mCMS) that helps you create live-content apps with no programming and “zero total cost of ownership.” Apps can include monetization options, such as ads, coupons, and subscriptions. A three-month trial is free. Pricing then depends on app features.

… even Bill Gates!  We saw the headlines on the Seattle blog and the CNET News Blog that the Microsoft chairman admitted to checking out the value of his mansion on Zillow at a recent conference.  He also admitted that the Zestimate was too low (even at $134 million).  That’s not too surprising, as the Zestimate takes comparable sales into consideration, and there really is nothing like the Gates residence anywhere in the U.S. Unique features include:

• Expansive electronics system
• Large private library
• Domed reading room
• Swimming pool with underwater music system and a fossil-motif floor
• Hidden cameras and sensors to track a person within 6 inches
• Heated floors inside and out (walkways, driveway)
• Music that follows you from room-to-room
• And, so much more

We know Bill didn’t go to Zillow to set a Make Me Move price — although, wouldn’t THAT be interesting — but he came to see how technology is mashing up with real estate. So, we say to Bill as we say to everyone: Zillow is a starting point and that starting point becomes more precise with the more data we have to crunch.  So, if you feel your home’s value is not spot-on, you can do something about it: Claim your home, edit the home facts and create your own estimate using My Estimator. Real estate is part art and part science. And if you have heated toilet seats and they don’t know it, you can go ahead and add that value to your home details page to get closer to what you think your home is worth. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.

​Heated toilet seats? Check…
Retractable garage roof? Check…
Tunnel to next door neighbor’s wine cellar? Check…

​What are the best real estate lead generation options today?

Where and how can real estate agents, investors and other related industry professionals generate more leads for buying, selling and renting properties? What are some of the little known benefits, and pitfalls of common real estate lead generation channels today?
Here are 12 ways for real estate investors and Realtors to bring in more leads:

Direct Mail

Some popular real estate gurus have said that direct mail is the fastest and easiest way to generate new leads. It can still be very effective. In fact, as others have turned to online marketing, direct mail may have become even more effective and profitable. However, direct mail success does rely on volume and testing to hone messaging and delivery.

Cold Calling

Cold calling on a large scale, such as using call centers, might face many challenges with regulations today, but it has still been proven to generate an effective hourly income of hundreds of dollars for Realtors. Simply picking up the phone can be one of the fastest ways to generate real estate business. It is also one of the lowest cost ways to generate leads, and can help professionals stay on top of their sales game.

Door Knocking

Many fantastic real estate deals and listings can be uncovered by simply driving neighborhoods and knocking on doors. There are obvious obstacles in doing this, but when it comes to getting the jump on competitors, it can be hard to beat.

Email Marketing

Google may have made reaching consumers via their inboxes more challenging, but email can still be one of the best ways to reach both the masses, and highly targeted contacts. Email lists may be rented from data companies versus buying them. Subsequently, real estate investors and agents can take control of their own email real estate and build their own lists.

Buying Internet Leads

Buying internet leads has been popular for a variety of real estate and mortgage companies since before the last housing boom. These individuals experienced somewhat of a bubble, but have now been improved with enhanced data and targeting tools. There are various types of these leads ranging from ‘aged’ leads, to live exclusive leads, and non-exclusive leads. Make sure you do your homework and understand exactly what you are getting, as well as the difference in these types of consumers, in order to maximize ROI.

Buying Lead Lists

Lead lists have been a staple of the real estate industry for many years. An almost endless array of filters can be used to laser target the best prospects with these lists. However, newer individuals and real estate companies need to recognize that they may not legally be allowed to have, or market to some of these lists depending on how the data was generated. Watch for junk, and be sure lists aren’t being fluffed out with bogus names.

Real Estate Blogging

Real estate blogging remains one of the most powerful and profitable forms of lead generation, but also one of the most underestimated. A regular blog can ensure real estate pros and companies are not held ransom by other platforms, and can go on helping to generate leads for years after posts are written. A blog can be used to draw regular internet leads, feed email list building, and fuel social media efforts.

Social Media

While this medium changes constantly, social media platforms can still be a fantastic way to generate leads in real estate. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and even Pinterest are all great options. There are many debates over calls to action, the amount of engagement which is right, and how much should be invested off-site, versus on a real estate company’s own websites, but with the right funnel strategy, it can be fast, affordable and enjoyable.

Signage & Outdoor Real Estate Advertising

Even the simplest yard and ‘bandit’ signs can be incredibly affordable ways to generate real estate leads. With the right message, these and other outdoor advertising solutions can be used to generate a steady stream of local leads. New technology can make this even better. Call capture, QR codes, interactive augmented reality signs, text messaging options, and even links to virtual tours can be used to boost outdoor advertising performance.

PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be one of the best methods of predictably and consistently driving in real estate leads on demand. PPC solutions, like Google Adwords, offer the ability to drive in leads on command. This can be tweaked to be hyper local, or reach global buyers, investors and homeowners right where they are now. With a little strategy and education, real estate marketers can significantly drive down PPC costs. With a large enough budget, they can even dominate, and starve out the competition by buying every lead for a given keyword. Aside from the big platforms, more affordable online leads may be gleaned from purchasing image, text and banner ads on other websites directly.

Print Advertising

Don’t forget print. Beyond the traditional line up of real estate mags, consider other industry magazines that will reach the same prime prospects, and even leveraging online magazines.

Referrals and Affiliate Marketing

​Personal referrals can be both a compliment, and the most valuable form of lead generation. Savvy real estate CEOs are taking this to a whole new level by using technology to scale and organize referrals on a national and global scale.

What are the best real estate blog strategies for those investing? More importantly, do real estate professionals even need blogs or websites anymore? If they do, is the best blog theme still real estate, or something entirely different?

Blogging continues to be a hot topic. In fact, blog industry experts and some of those with the most popular blogging platforms on the planet have already predicted that this median is only just getting started. We haven’t even begun to realize its hidden potential. At the same time, there are many new real estate agents, investors and related business owners contemplating the best strategy for setting up a blog. However, more than a few are wondering why they aren’t seeing the magnificent results that they hoped for.

There is no question that many are suffering the consequences of their own mediocrity. As the U.S. real estate market heats up, there will be a lot more real estate agents getting licensed, more brokerages being launched, real estate teams being formed and investors setting up businesses. Subsequently, each of these new entities will require a means of standing out from the crowd that they were so eager to become a part of. With hundreds, if not thousands, of choices of online destinations for consumers to get their real estate education and tap into resources, there is a need to give them a reason to choose yours.

Some sensationalists have recently posed that real estate agents should be focusing more on apps and social, as to not get lost in the sea of choices made available to consumers. There may be some wisdom in this, but few will want to take the risk of going without a real estate website and especially a blog. Even before most consumers or other parties will even consider doing business with a Realtor or real estate investment firm, they are going to try and look up their website online.

Neglecting to even provide a website is a huge red flag. A simple website, whether it is one or five pages, is far better than nothing. Short and sweet, but attractive, might be better than expansive and ugly. In other words, it is important to provide consumers with some form of online presence.

A blog is far more valuable than a website. It is a living real estate lead generation machine, with a potential ROI from each blog post that could far exceed what most real estate players can fathom. Of course, this doesn’t mean that sticking to stale blogging practices is what is best for your business. You might need a core focused real estate blog that deviates from tradition. For those looking for an outside the box alternative, consider taking an alternate approach or launching a unique blog on a new angle.

Some ideas might include focusing more on providing neighborhood information. Inman News and other real estate platforms have been talking incessantly about neighborhood experts. So why not incorporate some real keyword rich, SEO juiced neighborhood blogs that cover everything someone could want to know about moving and living in the area?

Other ideas might include architecture, interior design and home improvement themes. Regardless of what you right about, make it original and relevant to your particular profession as possible. Looking at innovative blog strategies may be just what your company needs to gain traction and establish a loyal base of consumers.

​You might know your SEO from your SEM, but do you know how your website ranks against competitors? Although the only metrics that really matter are your own company’s brand equity and sales, it’s a helpful integrated marketing activity to suss out the competition online and know how you stack up. Fortunately, with the abundance of free and low-cost tools available, you can benchmark your website against the competition and create a plan for improvement.
 
Work with the Numbers

First, fire up your favorite search engine and type in a relevant service or product. Where does your site appear in comparison to the competition? This ranking measures nonpaid, also called organic, relevancy and is one of the most-important indicators of the performance of your website. Sites that rank higher receive more online traffic and feature more relevant content for users.

Second, does your site carry authority? To find out, you’ll need to measure the off-site optimization of it. This refers to the factors that have an effect on your site, such as backlinks. These are links on other websites pointing back to your website. Backlinkwatch and Open Site Explorer are two free online tools that give you visibility into the backlink ranking of your site or competitive sites.

Third, look holistically at all of your online marketing efforts. One popular way is to run your website through Marketing Grader to get a report card of how your website and online marketing is performing. Then, run a competitive URL through the online checklist to determine its strengths and weaknesses. media junction also offers a free online competitor analysis that rates your website against three competitor properties.

“Once you run the analysis, put together an action list of what areas you can improve and what you can do differently than your competitors,” advises Jessica Meher, a marketing manager at HubSpot and founder of clickify, an inbound marketing and web design agency.

By staying ahead of your competition and comparing important site performance metrics against key competitors, you can find out which strategies are working and refine future integrated marketing activities.

Because web design and the technologies that underpin it are moving so rapidly, they’ve received a lot of media coverage, including our post about the benefits of Responsive Web Design (RWD). As a result of all the ink, many integrated marketers have made improving their web sites Job One for this year.

If a rebuild or refresh is on your radar, don’t get too far without first brushing up on emerging trends in these vital areas:

Content

• Relevance. Users’ expectations for a meaningful, more personalized web experience are higher than ever. Smart companies are allocating more resources to creating and distributing more audience-relevant content.
• Video. Consumers in record numbers are using video to inform buying behaviors. As Internet and mobile-device speeds rise and equipment costs drop, companies are expected to post more online video—maybe even using tips like these, or Twitter’s free video sharing app.
• Social Integration. The most successful sites have integrated social media and make liking, sharing and other social actions obvious and easy.

Layout

• Infinite Scrolling. Facebook began using it in 2012; Pinterest and YouTube followed. Instead of clicking around, users stay on the same page… indefinitely. Proponents like: the superior mobile performance and keeping users engaged on the site. Detractors say: if users do click away, they must inconveniently scroll down, down, down to resume the previous browsing session.
• Typography. Expect more emphasis on type because its size, color, style and proper placement can help dramatically improve navigation, usability and conversions (moving users to buy, call, click or download).
• Visual Elements and Navigation. Look for bigger, mobile-friendly buttons and stable heading bars that that aid in navigation, and continually remind users just whose site they’re visiting.

Technology

• Baked-in RWD. This year, more companies will “think mobile” first, building device independence and responsiveness in from start.
• Modularity. The use of pre-written software modules or “frameworks” instead of expensive custom coding to achieve your desired functionality. You save time and money when they can avoid reinventing the wheel.
• Flash. Flash’s well-publicized mobile-device performance issues have discouraged many designers, who increasingly prefer to build faster-loading, search-friendlier HTML-only sites.

Is keyword research a strategic function or a tactical one? The late Ron Jones, president/CEO of Symetri Internet Marketing and author of Keyword Intelligence: Keyword Research for Search Social and Beyond believed that it is not only strategic, but also foundational to all marketing channels you will use.

According to Jones, the first thing to consider in developing a keyword strategy is what you want to accomplish when you reach your target audience. Do you just want to generate an impression for branding purposes or do you want to invite them to your place where you get them to make a purchase?

Here are three types of strategies to consider:

• Conversion: This strategy is what most of us are after. We want our keywords to draw traffic to our website or landing page, and then we want that traffic to convert by making a purchase or otherwise doing something specific like filling out a contact form, picking up the phone, or downloading something. In this case, long-tail or more specific keywords will likely work best for you.
• Branding: The branding strategy is just that. You value impressions over new leads or conversions. Whether or not people come to our website isn’t as important as being seen as a player for that keyword. In this case, broad search terms are likely going to work best for you.
• Hybrid: You can of course bring both of these strategies together and have 90 percent of your keywords dedicated to a conversion strategy. Then the other 10 percent are dedicated to branding and impressions. You would want to segment your keywords accordingly for each campaign.

​Identifying this up front will help you put your keyword research in the right perspective. As you refine and pick your top keywords, you can sort them accordingly based on which strategy you’re targeting.

Social media wasn’t around during the Cold War, of course. But the term “social listening” does conjure the image of marketers in ushankas, huddled around a Twitter feed, like half-frozen Siberian spies parsing transmissions for intel.

Social listening is really just a subset of a larger discipline called “brand monitoring” by big companies and their big expensive agencies. They eavesdrop on the Twittersphere and other online sources, mining traffic for comments about their companies, products and leaders.

Not Just for Big Brands

The good news is that most small businesses can implement some form of brand monitoring or social listening. But to succeed, you’ll need a purpose, a plan and some patience—and a Twitter account to serve as your company’s listening outpost.

So Why Listen?
​
Central to any integrated marketing initiative is being crystal clear about why you’re doing it.

A very good AdAge.com article, summarized below, cites three important but very different strategic reasons for social listening:

• Gathering Intelligence: A passive discovery exercise that seeks to discern brand and/or campaign advocates from naysayers and detractors; the goal is to see who’s saying what and why, and decide how or whether you should respond.
• Improving Service. Establish guidelines for distinguishing legitimate service concerns and applying the appropriate resolution. Take a measured approach; remain helpful, positive and professional. P.S. Don’t feel obliged to apologize for every little thing.
• Taking Action. More challenging but more gratifying. Here, you’re not just monitoring conversations, you’re actively engaging in them, resources at the ready, focused on protecting and advancing your brand.

Be Patient and Persistent

Planning and implementing a social listening program can take many months and man-hours. Ditto for the other critical piece of the social listening puzzle: learning to mine and interpret results.

​But with patience and the right approach, social listening can yield many new competitive advantages, including: deeper customer insights and connections, a more authoritative market presence, and the confidence to guide your brand’s social marketing narrative. And what red-blooded Western marketer wouldn’t say “da” to that?

Google’s new swipeable tablet ad formats use special templates that make it easy for advertisers to easily deploy highly interactive videos and ad galleries across mobile (and other) platforms. Formats are aimed at helping companies better engage (and sell to) today’s skyrocketing number of tablet users, 65% of whom Google says spend at least one hour per day using the devices.

The Chongqing Connection

In its recent foray into swipeable tablet advertising, boutique Nordic airline, Finnair, sought to entice travelers with its new Chongqing, China route launch. Their challenge was promoting a virtually unknown destination, to highly particular customers, on a limited marketing budget. The upside for Finnair? Chongqing is actually a very desirable destination, and Finnair is the first to operate non-stop flights between that city and Europe.

Campaign Goals

Knowing its prospects well, Finnair’s first goal was to create a highly visual, educational and interactive user experience. It also sought to drive visitors to check fares and/or purchase tickets on the company website, and register for a special contest.

Solution & Results

Finnair chose Google’s swipeable gallery to tempt prospective passengers with a compelling range of browseable Chongqing imagery, including: modern cityscapes, ancient architecture and sculptures, sumptuous local cuisine and stunning nature photos. Results revealed that:

• Nearly 5% of all impressions led to some user interaction
• 12% of those interacting clicked to view fares on the company’s website
• 60% of all interactions resulted in a conversion (registering to enter the contest)

Finnair marketing manager, Emmi Teräs’s conclusion about advertising on tablets? “No other tool enables you to engage with targeted users with so much ‘wow’ factor…”

What You Can Take Away

• Small screens equal huge potential. Mobile Internet users have exceed desktop Internet users since 2014. So start “thinking mobile” and integrate tablet- and smartphone-friendly content into your mix ASAP.
• People want novelty. Identify something you have, do or offer that rivals don’t. If you’re the “first, best or only,” build a campaign that touts and proves the claim.
• Knowing customers counts. Finnair understood travelers’ high standards and delivered a campaign (and destination) that successfully satisfied both.

​Learn how to get a swipeable tablet campaign off the ground by reading Google’s complete Finnair case study.

After a year or two of hearing the biz-tech media trumpet consumers’ shift to the mobile internet, marketers are taking a closer look at responsive web design (RWD), the emerging technology that promises every user a simpler, more satisfying experience.

It Really Is What’s Next

RWD sites are specially designed and coded so that when a visitor’s device type is detected—smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop—they serve up content that’s appropriately sized for that specific screen size. This is exactly what visitors want. Benefits for you, the website owner, include:

• Not paying to create and maintain separate sites for desktop and mobile traffic.
• Longer, more rewarding user engagement (think: greater trust, brand equity, and ultimately, sales, especially on e-commerce sites).
• Gaining an immediate competitive advantage, because rivals are likely still
  asking “RW-what?”

Think Mobile First

More and more companies are recognizing the growth of mobile and its effect on the buying habits of consumers. Website viewers want instant access to information. So website design requires that files and graphic images are kept small to ensure all website pages load fast. It’s best to design your mobile website first and then the desktop version.

Get Set To Vet

When interviewing prospective web designers, before enlisting their services, consider the following:

• Ask about experience. Given the expected demand, it’s possible that some overly ambitious designers may be tempted to fudge their RWD qualifications.
• Request samples. Look for sites that have the look or functionality you want. Ask explicitly if the work was done in-house (preferred) or outsourced.
• Probe a little. Inquire about projects’ specific strategies and challenges. If the designer is vague, impatient or put off by your due diligence, find another resource.

Jump In Now
​
​The media reports are true: mobile has tremendous momentum. And soon, says CNET, a third of Internet search traffic will come from smartphones and tablets. Amidst this explosive growth one enduring tenet will hold true: respond to the market’s needs and the market will respond to you. Having a responsive website might just be the place to start.

If your marketing has lost its luster and response rates have fallen flat, try wooing audiences back with a targeted pURL campaign.

Online Street Address

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, which is most easily thought of as the “street address” for information on the internet for websites and links. For example, http://www.tconpoint.com/transaction-coordinator is the URL for this integrated real estate marketing blog.

“P” is for Personal

A pURL is a web page or site that has been personalized to a singular individual, using demographic or other “variable” data you’ve collected (or purchased) about them. Variable data can include age, education level, income, family size, or similar information.

Seamless Integration

pURL marketing combines data-driven direct mail with targeted electronic mail. Messages drive recipients to a personalized “landing” page that’s been painstakingly designed to “convert” visitors by eliciting a specific action, such as clicking, buying or downloading something, or filling out a form.

Why pURLs Shine

Marketers who use pURLs often swear by them, because of benefits that can include:

• Greater user engagement–people naturally find their own names irresistible.
• Higher response rates and conversions–marketers reported an average improvement of 35% for (multi-channel) campaigns using print, email and web landing pages, according to one InfoTrends study.
• Increased credibility and trust–variable data personalization breaks down barriers to conversion by giving readers the impression you understand their needs and interests.

The Wisdom of pURLs

Follow these time-tested guidelines for ensuring pURL marketing success:

• Apply landing page best practices: Short, direct headline; simple uncluttered layout; clear unambiguous offer; thoughtful use of white space.

• Maximize relevance. Work with your list expert to pre-populate mailer variable-data fields with reader-relevant images and copy. If you sell work boots and coveralls, show farmhands or construction workers. Not ten-year olds in tutus.

• Keep URLs simple. Email recipients can click through to a pURL. Customers who get direct mail must key in the address. Use the shortest possible URL you can.

• Shorten (and soften) the CTA. Keep your call to action at 6 to 10 words. Use terms like “Try it Now” or “Enter” instead of “Buy” or “Add to Cart” to pre-empt commitment fears and early buyer’s remorse.

​With the aid of an experienced list management and personalization partner, pURLs can provide meaningful, long-lasting, one-to-one connections.

In an age of e-this and social-that, it’s easy to forget that many businesses still rely on traditional printed materials to market their products and services.

True, websites have become today’s de-facto marketing medium. And flashy new pad-style computers can invigorate even the most pedestrian sales presentation.

But in the trenches, today’s sales pros still use brochures, sell sheets, direct mail and other key marketing and sales support materials to land, close and nurture new accounts.
Of course, those who routinely use printed materials continually seek ways to create and produce them better, faster and more efficiently—which may explain why companies large and small are leveraging the benefits of online storefronts.

Web to Print 

An online storefront (aka Web to Print) is a browser-based Web application that links digital, print-ready versions of company marketing collateral to a pre-determined print-production and delivery environment. Typically, your team (or your printer’s) will design and upload material templates, which can then be accessed, edited and output on-demand by authorized users to a nearby printing facility. The technology even allows for personalized variable output.

Coming into its Own…Again

When online storefronts came onto the scene a few years ago, print buyers and marketers were all atwitter, knowing that it was the all-in-one printing-marketing-personalization solution they’d been waiting for. And, more recently enthusiasm has spiked, largely because more and more vendors and businesses are clearer on the technology’s considerable upside, which includes:

• Lower costs—through reduced print waste, material inventory and storage costs
• Strategic flexibility—companies can print the quantities they want and accurately track costs, ordering and usage through a convenient online dashboard
• Greater convenience—materials are managed and produced via a secure web portal, so marketing teams can order materials anytime, 24/7
• Rapid delivery and deployment—W2P can cost-efficiently equip geographically dispersed teams for fast-emerging marketplace changes or opportunities
• Brand integrity and stewardship—pre-defined templates ensure visual consistent, and keep remote offices or individuals from playing fast-and-loose with corporate branding standards

An experienced print-service provider can help you tailor a customized, cost-effective online storefront for a range of printed/integrated marketing materials, such as:

• Brochures
• Direct mailers
• Sell sheets / fliers
• Business cards / stationery
• Posters
• Catalogs

​Have you ever used an online storefront for your business?

“Color provokes a psychic vibration. It hides a power, still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body.” — Russian painter and art theorist, Wassily Kandinsky

In a previous post we (dutifully) acknowledged that on the web, content (actually, good, relevant content) is king, and wondered aloud if his highness could spare some love for another key element of the user experience, color.

We summarized a semantic color meaning-and-context framework from Usabilla founder and CEO, Paul Veugen, and promised to share, at a later date, Veugen’s top color-use best practices for maximizing web success. That date has now arrived.

Applying the Power of Color

Here’s how we’ve paraphrased Veugen’s best practices for using color on the web:
​

1. Define your main target audience and research the meaning of different colors based on symbolic, cultural and political considerations.
2. Use colors consistently and avoid applying too many shades or variations of your palette. Too much visual variety may confuse users, sidetrack their navigation, or diminish their on-site experience.
3. Ensure that your chosen colors display correctly online. What looks vivid on one form of media may not appear so on another.
4. Avoid getting all Peter Max (60’s counter-culture/psychedelic movement artist) with it.
   Too many wild colors or overly vibrant shades will distract or overstimulate your users.
   You want to catch their eye, not melt it.
5. Color thyself. Your own choice of color has a big impact on the image you present to customers and prospects. Choose a palette that most appropriately represents your company and brand personality.

​Can calculated color use really provoke ‘psychic vibrations’?

Maybe, if you’re lucky. At the very least, you’ll gain greater control over users’ emotions, behaviors and personal, online experience. And when credit cards are at the ready, isn’t that what it’s all about?

“Color provokes a psychic vibration. It hides a power, still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body.” — Russian painter and art theorist, Wassily Kandinsky

In a previous post we (dutifully) acknowledged that on the web, content (actually, good, relevant content) is king, and wondered aloud if his highness could spare some love for another key element of the user experience, color.

We summarized a semantic color meaning-and-context framework from Usabilla founder and CEO, Paul Veugen, and promised to share, at a later date, Veugen’s top color-use best practices for maximizing web success. That date has now arrived.

Applying the Power of Color

Here’s how we’ve paraphrased Veugen’s best practices for using color on the web:
​

1. Define your main target audience and research the meaning of different colors based on symbolic, cultural and political considerations.
2. Use colors consistently and avoid applying too many shades or variations of your palette. Too much visual variety may confuse users, sidetrack their navigation, or diminish their on-site experience.
3. Ensure that your chosen colors display correctly online. What looks vivid on one form of media may not appear so on another.
4. Avoid getting all Peter Max (60’s counter-culture/psychedelic movement artist) with it.
   Too many wild colors or overly vibrant shades will distract or overstimulate your users.
   You want to catch their eye, not melt it.
5. Color thyself. Your own choice of color has a big impact on the image you present to customers and prospects. Choose a palette that most appropriately represents your company and brand personality.

Can calculated color use really provoke ‘psychic vibrations’?

​Maybe, if you’re lucky. At the very least, you’ll gain greater control over users’ emotions, behaviors and personal, online experience. And when credit cards are at the ready, isn’t that what it’s all about?

When integrated marketers think of using YouTube, they tend to think of the latest viral video sensation and how they can duplicate that success. Don’t even go there. You don’t get to decide what goes “viral”. That’s up to the viewers.

Don’t Try to Duplicate Viral Success

It’s extremely difficult to predict or duplicate viral success. For instance, in the summer of 2012 a video by Korean rapper PSY called “Gangnam Style” featured campy choreography that simulated riding a horse. Within a month of its release, the video racked up over 28 million hits on YouTube and inspired parody clips from all over the world. As of this writing, the video has over 1 billion views.

So never mind the viral part and focus instead on generating traffic back to your website. The three traffic-generating giants include Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Videos Rank Highly on Google

YouTube (which is owned by Google) is the second-largest search engine after Google. YouTube is also one of the smartest marketing tools in your integrated marketing program. While it may be hard to get your website on page one of Google, videos rank highly in search results because there aren’t as many marketers using them effectively.

4 Billion Pairs of Eyes

YouTube currently receives over 4 BILLION views—every day. Now that YouTube offers its own online video editing tools, it has never been easier to create video content, share it with the world, and drive traffic back to your website.

YouTube is successful because it empowers you, the user/viewer, to become the broadcaster. You can make videos about whatever you want, and whatever your audience wants.

YouTube marketing authority James Wedmore offers these five tips for creating videos successful videos:

5 Essential Video Ingredients:

• Value. Focus on the end-user, what will the viewer get?
• Relevance. How is your subject meaningful to your audience?
• Brevity. Get to the point and finish in 3-5 minutes.
• Demonstrable. Show your viewer how to do something, or solve some problem (e.g. “how to tie a tie”).
• Actionable. Include a “Call to Action” in every video! Ask viewers to subscribe, share, visit the website, like or comment.In your call to action, tell viewers what to do, why they should do it, and how to do it. For example, “Thanks for watching, for more great videos, or to learn more, subscribe or click the link below and you’ll get such and such.”

​Have you started using video to market your company? We’d love to know about other companies you see using YouTube effectively. Include links of notable examples you’d like to share in the comments.

Imagine hiring a stunningly attractive spokesperson to talk about your company—one whose appearance and delivery are so alluring, so riveting, that no one—clients, prospects, media, competitors—can tear their eyes away from the story that’s being told. And when ‘The End’ comes, the audience’s perception of you is totally transformed.
That’s what infographics can do.

​An infographic (sometimes called a “visualization”) is a customized composition of—you guessed it—information (stats, data, knowledge, a timeline) and graphics, such as photos, illustrations and creative type treatment. Traditionally a mainstay of science and academia, infographics have emerged as a favored marketing tactic among brands and companies of all types and sizes.

Quintessential marketing tool

From a marketer’s perspective, there’s much to love about infographics. They’re attention grabbing and easily understood. Infographics enable you to present data- or stat-heavy content such as chronology, hierarchy, process and technology in an aesthetically pleasing way that gives word-weary readers a visual change of pace. They’re also versatile enough to enhance any print or online channel, from ads and direct mail to blog posts and social media. Done well, infographics can help your company:
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• Increase brand credibility, authority and awareness
• Build links to social networking and bookmarking sites
• Boost SEO and rank higher in the search results

There are no hard and fast rules for creating infographics, and no limits, except your imagination and, of course, your budget.

Outsourced infographics can cost several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on size, quality, complexity and how you promote them. More channels or desired impressions equal a higher investment. If your graphic goes viral or is cited by trade or mainstream media, congratulations! You’ve attained infographic nirvana and will soon be the envy of your competitors.

A well-executed infographic can bring almost any data-intensive story to life in a fresh and compelling way. And unlike a stunningly attractive, flesh-and-blood spokesperson, they’ll never pout, sulk or ask for a raise.

Want some examples and ideas to get started? Feast your eyes on Pinterest’s extensive collection of infographics.

To effectively optimize your website to help it get found by search engines, it helps to understand how search engines work. Search engines send automated programs, called robots, that “crawl” the web, reading each page on your website. As the robot reads your site, it “indexes” each one with a ranking score.

Have you ever read a website where you couldn’t figure out what business the company was in? Just imagine: if people have a hard time understanding what you or your site is about, it will be even more difficult for search engine robots, which interpret text in a very literal way. Keywords help these robots understand what your site is all about.

Keyword choice is crucial in the development and maintenance of your website. When selecting keywords, think like your prospects and customers. What words do they use when describing you company or your products?

To define your keywords, start by understanding the goal of your site. Once you decide your goal, you will need to choose the handful of keywords that best describe it. Google offers a free keyword tool to help you find out which terms are most popular in your category.

Keywords in Titles and URLs

Page titles and URLs also affect search engine rankings. Use your chosen keywords in page titles and URLs for individual pages whenever possible.

But beware: If you use keywords too often, the search engine robot may suspect you of “keyword stuffing” to manipulate rankings. You can’t just use the same word over and over to trick the robot and rise to the first page of Google overnight. Search engines eventually catch on to such “black hat” tactics and punish sites by removing them from search results. Your website content should be written for people, not robots.

A good rule of thumb: Keywords should be used throughout a content page at a density of between 3 and 5 percent.

Short vs. Long-Tail Keywords

You’ll need to balance choosing keywords that are popular versus those with less competition. The more general the keyword, the more it will be used in searches. However, that also means greater competition among other websites for the same keyword. More specific keywords or phrases (long-tail keywords) will be less popular in searches, so there will also be less competition for them, which means it will be easier to rank higher for more specific terms. For example: “candles” is a short keyword, “vanilla-scented dripless candles” is a long-tail keyword.

At the end of the day, the more effective your keyword strategy, the higher your rankings will be with the search engines.

Launching a search marketing campaign without first preparing your site is like inviting guests for dinner and serving them empty plates. Follow these three easy steps before information-hungry visitors come to your site:

Brand scan. Starting with the Home page, scrutinize your site closely, paying extra attention to the details. Is it obvious what you do—and for whom? Does your value proposition sing? Are branding elements, such as logo, fonts, color palette and page layout/template consistent throughout?

• Tip:  Ensure that brand differentiators—those things you do better, faster or cheaper than competitors—are easily seen, along with contact information and a call to action. After inviting visitors in, you must give them lots of reasons to stay—and ways to contact you.

Mind your meta. A search engine’s main purpose is to return the most user-relevant results possible. One way engines determine relevance is by checking web page titles and description tags.

• Tip: Make sure each page has a unique title and description tag, optimized for proper length and containing known customer search terms. Duplicating titles and/or descriptions confuses search engines and lowers your ranking. Best practice targets: Title: 60-65 characters long, no words repeated; Description Tag: 120-125 characters, no word repeated more than twice.

Collaborate and cogitate. The allure of search marketing is how quickly it can produce results.  PPC and SEO aren’t magic bullets but rather two of many integrated tactics that combine to support your overall sales and marketing effort.

• Tip: Understand sales programs’ strategic goals and objectives. Align your search marketing initiative accordingly to ensure optimal support and brand-message consistency.

Visit this blog regularly for bite-sized tidbits of actionable search marketing advice.

Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world with upwards of 900 million users. To reach that valuable customer base, many companies have set up a Facebook marketing presence, with branded Facebook pages that attract thousands of what are now considered “friends” who “like” their favorite brands’ pages on the social network.

If your customers are on Facebook, obviously you need to be there, too. But don’t make the mistake of using Facebook as your default website just because it’s popular and free.

Your Facebook page is not really yours

Facebook belongs to Mark Zuckerberg and the company’s shareholders. You don’t own the site or the list of contacts you compile through it.

Facebook also has that annoying habit of changing things around all the time, and not only the look, but even the rules that dictate how you can promote your business. Don’t let another company dictate how you do business.

Own your own piece of the ‘Net

You’re better off buying a domain (a website URL) and getting your own web hosting package to establish your primary online presence. That way, you have your own email address, and all of your online digital “content” (e.g. the text, images, videos and other works published on your site) belongs to you.

Using your website as your Internet marketing “hub”, you’re able build customer and prospect lists in the form of opt-in email subscribers. A subscriber to your company blog is far more valuable than a Facebook “like”.

To borrow another metaphor, if the gold is in your list, isn’t it much better to own it?

A website is like a garden. Properly attended, it will produce an abundant harvest of qualified leads and satisfied customers. Neglect it, and user interest will shrivel up and die on the vine.

Here are three things you can do this weekend to help your website flourish:

• Weed your About page. New visitors almost always check the About page. If it’s overgrown with old facts, photos, bios or other information, visitors receive an inaccurate impression of who you are. The cycle of know you-like you-trust you begins with accurate, relevant content, especially your About page.

• Feed your blog. If you’re not blogging, you know you should start. But we’ll forego the lecture and guilt trip (at least for now). If you are blogging, devote 30 minutes this weekend to growing your supply of posts. Spend the first half brainstorming reader-relevant subject matter.  Don’t filter—just write quickly, noting anything and everything that comes to mind. Pick the most interesting topic and spend the last half of your time bulleting the top five points readers might want to know. Create posts that educate, inform, enlighten or opine. But please, skip the hard sell.

• Prune your other content. Some information is evergreen, meaning that its value to readers will last a long time. Other pages, imagery and PDFs need regular updates to keep them fresh and relevant. Check your site for dated, inaccurate or off-strategy content. Note changes to be made and send the old stuff to the mar-compost pile on Monday.

With proper care and feeding, websites can yield a regular crop of informed