ferris 225x300 A Brand New Website + Free 30 Minute Consultations!

Our inbound marketing agency is growing and we’ve got a shiny new website in the works!

Debuting in July,  the new Idea Pioneer Media site will be filled with great information, tools, ebooks and more to help you get more leads and more customers using inbound and online marketing techniques.

Want to Know How to Get More Customers Online?

We’d love to talk to you about your marketing. Find out how our Austin Marketing Agency can help get your marketing on track and generating more business for you this summer.

We are experts in start-up marketing, elearning marketing, higher education marketing, and small business marketing. We love helping you get new projects and revamped business units off the ground.

 

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Breaking News: Google+ Now Open to Businesses and Organizations

Time to Dive In

If you hang out in the geek world like I do, you’d know that there’s been mounting pressure for Google+ to allow businesses and organizations to create G+ Profiles. (Until now, it’s only been open to individuals and a few large corporations).

And now –  It’s Here! Late yesterday Google+ pushed the doors wide open and now you can create and claim your business’ or organization’s page.

Just go to Google+ Create a Page, fill out the information, and your business is up on Google+. Pretty simple really.

I know a number of you are still on the fence about joining Google+. And I sent out a post why you should be on Google+ a few weeks ago.

lace fence1 Get Your Business On Google+

Get Off the Fence

So why do I recommend you schedule an hour or less this week to set up your businesses Google+ page and start engaging? Because as one of the top, very tip-top, social media and business experts, Guy Kawasaki, says, “It’s a land grab”. 

Remember when you first started hearing about Twitter and thought “What’s That?”…”How Could that Possibly Be Useful to Me?”

Ever wish you’d jumped in then instead of waiting until it was like pulling teeth to get more than a handful of followers? Although I started on Twitter when it first launched, I let my account languish over the years. I wish I’d paid just a bit more attention to the huge audience out there when there was less attention for their eyeballs.

Today – followers = leads for your business. Important leads. Customers. Revenue. A growing business.

Like it or not, marketing has changed tremendously in the last few years and waiting until everyone else catches on to something (or you do) won’t help people find you or the fantastic product or service you have to offer. And that would be a shame.

I’m not recommending you jump on every new thing out there. But Google+ has significantly more behind it than a couple of kids working out of a dorm room.

So schedule in 30 minutes this week to get your business page up and start poking around google +.

Screen shot 2011 10 04 at 3.43.03 PM Get Your Business On Google+

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And It Needs You.

You probably have heard that there’s another social networking site – Google+ And chances are, you have still not taken the plunge to participate. If are there- great! If not, you need to be.

Here’s three main reasons why:

  1. Search. Google = search, right? It’s the main way people find you and your business online. In a few short weeks of being on Google+ a search for my name resulted in a #1 listing that included my Google+ picture, profile information, and links to my business website. Cool. I see Google+ integrating into Google search results in a big way. Get involved and claim your name now.
  2. Business Pages.  Right now, Google+ is testing business pages with a select few. Once they open it up to everyone soon those Google+ers who already have realtionships established with people in their circles (subscribers or friends) will have a built in audience. You’ll have people that know you, have had discussions with you, and like you. What better way to build your business?
  3. Engaging and meaningful. Yes I am still on Facebook (you can joing our Idea Pioneer Community there). And I plan to stay for now. But what immediately drew me into Google+ was the people I met and the rich discussions I was having about things I care about. I’m intersted in art, things going on in the world, technology, fun stuff, learning from others, not just business. Our world is expereincing huge change and, while pics of your vacation are nice, I like a little more. Google+ offers this. In spades. And that’s why it needs you.

Join me on Screen shot 2011 10 04 at 3.43.03 PM 3 Reasons Why You Need To Be A Google+er

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++ Click Image to Enlarge ++
future of paid search sm The Future of Paid Search Infograhic   Its Big
Source: The Future of Paid Search Infographic

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 5 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes in Your Marketing

Recently at one of my favorite, local establishments I was enjoying a refreshing beverage in an increasingly futile attempt to cool down from the 100+ degree weather. Stacked on the table in front of me I spied a postcard promoting an upcoming food festival.

Cool! (as I hoped it would be in September when the festival ran). I picked up the postcard excited to learn more, and like all good (obsessive) marketers, proceeded to critique everything from copy to design.

Postcards are great for marketing. They are a relatively inexpensive way to sell and promote – a staple in the direct marketer’s toolbox. Postcards are something I’ve used with success selling products and events, for many years.

Unfortunately I often see postcards used ineffectively and inefficiently. And this one was no exception.

But, first, I was intrigued to flip the postcard over and find a QR code nestled in the bottom corner just waiting to be clicked.

For the uninitiated, these QR “bar code” symbols can be easily read by smart phones (usually with a QR reader app). Pointed at the QR code, whether on a printed piece or online, once your phone “sees it” you are taken wherever the QR’s code wants to take you – an offer page, coupon, invitation, and more.  You can link a QR code to a URL, text, phone number or SMS. Used correctly, they are a great marketing tool. 

Ta-da!

I pointed my smartphone at the QR code excited to see what popped up on the screen. And – it – was – the festival website! With all of the same information I’d gotten on the postcard! But tiny and not easily readable in mobile form!

In fact the website address was on the postcard. Why even use the QR code??? Did they think that someone with a smartphone capable of clicking QR codes couldn’t enter a website address in a browser?

(I won’t even go into the fact that the website address didn’t point to a unique landing page, or an offer on a Facebook page, or anything that was trackable and measurable.  How would they know if the postcard worked?)

Too many missed opportunities…

Deflated, I thought of all the fun promotional possibilities that QR code could have provided. What could have been done differently? Like any good marketing starting point, you need determine the purpose of your campaign.

This postcard for a food festival was clearly created to sell tickets to the event. It took just a couple of brainstorming minutes to come up with a few ideas.

Five ways a QR code can help your selling and promoting

  1. Offer a discount on a ticket purchase with an easy sign up link. The most obvious choice, but spice it up visually with a simple mobile landing page and, say, a big picture of a glass of wine with the percentage off and a “sign up now” button.
  2. Create a contest.  The 100th visitor clicking through with the QR code wins two free tickets.
  3. Link to a Facebook page and ask for a “Like” in exchange for a reward/discount. Then link directly to a purchase page with a discount code.
  4. Make a compelling slideshow of images from previous events (or the ones being used for the campaign); and,
  5. Create short, two minute, video pieces with a links back to the sign up page. In this case, there were a number of vendors participating. Stories featuring a few of these vendors could be used in many cool and different ways.

To top it all off, each of these five tactics would provide trackable information to see what worked and what didn’t. You could (and should) split test several ideas to see how each performs.

Are you using QR codes yet in marketing campaigns? What other fun ideas do you think would work well in a mobile QR marketing campaign?

Oh, and if you haven’t already, go ahead and scan the QR code at the top of the page to see what we’ve got for you - 

 

 

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