Webinarmed / BeaconLive Blog
How to Survive a Tradeshow Season
Posted by BeaconLive, May 14, 2012 10:36 am
Trade shows can be an exciting and stressful few days for an exhibitor. You spend thousands of dollars and many hours to prepare for this show. Managing to get leads, seem engaging, and find time to sleep during the course …
Read more »
How to optimize your Facebook company page’s potential
Posted by BeaconLive, May 9, 2012 12:00 pm
For the past six years Facebook has been shaping the way we live and how our society works. Despite the fact that this network started out in a college dorm in Harvard, it has grown to epic proportions. It is …
Read more »
Beacon was Twacked
Posted by BeaconLive, May 2, 2012 4:34 pm
When everyone from the president of the United States, Lady Gaga, and BeaconLive are getting accounts hacked into we realized what a growing issue this is. Social reputations can be destroyed, followers lost, and viruses found days later on your …
Read more »
How to not scare away viewers with your registration page
Posted by BeaconLive, April 30, 2012 9:36 am
Sometimes registering with a website or for an event feels more like writing an autobiography. By the time you’re finished filling out the information fields, the computer bot or company knows your entire life story. Below are some tips and …
Read more »
How to Integrate your Social Media Plan
Posted by BeaconLive, April 20, 2012 2:31 pm
In today’s world where Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other social networks are a part of a person’s life from when they wake up to that last notification before bed, having an integrated social media marketing strategy is important to …
Read more »
Tweeting with a purpose: A Tweetchat how to
Posted by BeaconLive, April 16, 2012 9:07 pm
Tweeting with a purpose: A Tweetchat how to In a world where breaking news happens on twitter before it’s announced to the general media, twitter is more than a teenager/celebrity medium. With over 140 million users information and news is …
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How to stop putting your webinar viewers to sleep
Posted by BeaconLive, April 9, 2012 10:01 am
Creativity can touch every part of a person’s life if they let it. It is not just for the artists, dancers and free spirits of the world. The Lawyers, doctors and financial advisors of the world can be creative as …
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Getting out of the typical rut of Direct Marketing
Posted by BeaconLive, April 2, 2012 2:34 pm
Direct marketing is a multi billion-dollar industry dedicated to communicating straight to a customer. It engages a customer and brings awareness for a product or a company. Do you know all of the ways you could be reaching your audience? …
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Is your email campaign getting lost in mobile land?
Posted by BeaconLive, March 26, 2012 10:08 am
Read more about Increasing your Event Attendance, after the Event Here As smart phone usage becomes increasingly more common in the business world, emails are being read at a higher volume on your phones before you see them on …
Read more »
Curating Content versus Content Curation
Posted by BeaconLive, March 20, 2012 1:36 pm
Confused yet? Yeah, so were we. Here’s the difference Curating your content. The first step in building a blog for your company is creating a ton of really informative and interesting content to share with your readers. But what should you …
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[post_content] => Trade shows can be an exciting and stressful few days for an exhibitor. You spend thousands of dollars and many hours to prepare for this show. Managing to get leads, seem engaging, and find time to sleep during the course of a show can be very difficult. So you might be wondering how to optimize your time and money so that you receive the highest ROI from your next trade show.
Climate of a trade show
Tradeshows are generally where everyone from one industry comes together to network and learn about the latest trends and education. Consider the industry you’re in, or will be visiting, to determine how you should dress at the conference. If the professionals in the industry tend to be very professional, suits are the expected attire for the show. If you are meeting with a casual, dress to match the audience.
You may find yourself traveling all over the country to attend a tradeshow-often in places with different climates than you’re use to. But just because you may find yourself in sunny Miami doesn’t mean you should dress for the warm weather. Tradeshows tend to be notoriously freezing in hotel ballrooms or convention centers. Plan to dress in layers, bring sweaters and blazers that can easily be discarded if you get warm.
Attracting people to your booth
Merely setting up a booth at a tradeshow wont draw people to you, so how do you get them to your booth? First, appear approachable. You cannot be eating, be on your phone, have your arms crossed, speaking to other exhibitors, and most important do not sit down! All of these things will make you seem like you are not as interested in speaking with someone walking up to your booth and it could discourage someone from walking up to you. Be available to talk.
“Freebies”
Giving away things at a trade show is an important consideration, but how do you decide what to give out, how much to spend, and who should get it? While pens and/or note pads can be the go to for a company try to get more creative when coming up with your company freebie. Tote bags or bags with your company logo that guests can carry the rest of their swag around in are great ideas. That way they will be able to reuse it in life, and your logo/branding will be out there.
Managing your leads:
When going to a trade show the main goal for an exhibiter is make as many contacts as possible. It’s important to network with everyone you meet, regardless of if that person has the potential to become a great sale. Collecting and writing notes on the back of business cards will remind you of who you met and what you spoke about when you finally return to your office. Follow up with any questions they may have had, or just shoot an email letting them know it was nice to meet them.
Final notes!
Stay professional, make meaningful connections for your company, and remember to smile. A trade show is work, but that does not mean that you cannot make it the best experience possible.
Links and tips we found helpful:
Marketing Profs
The trade show guy
Trade Shows – Trade Show Planning – Before you attend trade shows
Trade show rules and etiquette 2011
What makes a great trade show booth
Basic Trade Show Booth Set-ups tips
15 don’ts of a trade show
Tradeshow guy blog
Social Networking & Your trade show
Tricks and tips for trade show success
See your trade shows with fresh eyes again
18 Hidden Rules of Trade Shows
Doesn’t be ‘That Guy’ (or Gal) at Trade Shows
10 Things I wish I knew before I started exhibiting at trade shows
Mike Thimmesch’s thought leader blog – TSNN Trade Show News
Trade Show News Network
Master your trade show: Tips and tricks
Trade Show Lead Management: 10 top tips
7 things your social media consultant wont tell you
Four ways to use mobile at your next trade show booth
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[post_content] => For the past six years Facebook has been shaping the way we live and how our society works. Despite the fact that this network started out in a college dorm in Harvard, it has grown to epic proportions. It is a part of millions of people’s every day lives. This is why having an updated, accurate, and interesting company Facebook page is more important now than it was even six months ago. Timeline for Facebook pages was made live for all pages as of March 30th, have you been taking advantage of the new options available for your company page? With all of the social media options available today it can be difficult to manage all of the accounts your company has. So, here are a few tips to maximize your page’s potential.
Timeline Optimization:
Timeline is up and functioning in both personal Facebook accounts as well as branding pages. With the additional information of who looks at your page, your exact reach to people, as well as other useful marketing information how will you manage your page? With Facebook’s new branding options for companies it is now much easier to see exactly who your target audience is. The amount of data on Facebook is staggering, so use it to further your brand’s identity. Competition for fans as well as likes on Facebook is quite a different thing than even a year ago. A ‘like’ can increase your overall brand awareness and possibly engage potential customers as well as educating and re-engaging current customers.
Take the various different tours that Facebook offers for branding page and read their different white papers. See which options are the most applicable to your company. Would a ‘liking’ campaign work for you, or would you be better off engaging your customers with different blog postings? Any way to increase the potential for word of mouth in regards to your company, in a positive light, is worth the effort. Optimize your page so that your target audience can be reached and engaged. Make sure to utilize timeline to the best of your abilities.
Company page vs. personal page:
What are we giving up exactly in allowing all of our friends and acquaintances to know every bit of information we post online? Be smart about what you put online. Imagine that every single bit of information you post, share, or message is all posted in time square. Would you be ok with the entire general public seeing pictures of your summer beach trip with your friends? Think of your company’s page the same way. Post things that are important to your company and can help increase its branding.
Facebook itself has lots of information on how to optimize your company’s page. Take a tour and explore the different features and options.
Third Party Systems:
Third party organization systems, such as Hoot Suite, makes it much easier to manage a company’s different social media pages. When you add a link to your Twitter or LinkedIn make sure to add it to your Facebook as well to engage your friends. It is a lot easier to manage several accounts this way!
Facebook can be huge help to a company’s overall media profile. Make sure to not forget about it! The site itself has a large amount of resources to help you build your page up along with analytics. Take your time getting used to the new setup and let the creative juices flow when it comes to your cover picture. Remember to have fun but to stay professional.
Here are some links we found useful and interesting:
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[post_content] => When everyone from the president of the United States, Lady Gaga, and BeaconLive are getting accounts hacked into we realized what a growing issue this is. Social reputations can be destroyed, followers lost, and viruses found days later on your computer when an account is hacked. So you’re asking,
How do I prevent this from happening to me? Here are some tips that we, at BeaconLive, have found useful in beefing up our own account security:
Passwords:
While password security seems like the simplest aspect of ensuring that your account is not hacked, it is also one of the easiest things to forget about. It is typical for a person to have to remember passwords for up to 20 accounts that they will use on any given day. So typically they are kept simple and the same throughout all of their accounts. This is very dangerous, because if one of your accounts gets hacked into, then a hacker could potentially have access to everything from your Facebook to your bank account. Make passwords as long as possible. Include as many numbers as possible without making it a series of 1, 2, 3… etc. In addition putting symbols and upper case letters at random in your password will increase how strong it is. NEVER use your name, birthday, or those of your significant other or children. These are some of the easiest guessed passwords available. Just be smart about what you use!
Change your passwords regularly. Having the same password for to long of a period, despite how great it is, still leaves you open for hacking attempts. Having the same password since High School is never a good idea. In addition, do not rotate your passwords. In doing this you will give a hacker access to your account every few days/week/months. It just starts the problem all over for you. ALWAYS come up with new passwords.
Third-Party Applications:
While joining a third party network can make your life easier to organize tweets, Facebook posts and the newest thing on LinkedIn you need to be careful for which ones you join. Applications such as TweetDeck and HootSuite are very reliable, but others may not to be as trusted. Those sights are easy targets to get hacked and steal your access information.
Clicking Links:
Avoid clicking on links in Twitter that sound “too good to be true” or are telling you someone is spreading rumors about you. These types of techniques are to entice you to click on the link. Once this happens your account is easy access for a hacker to steal your information. Rule of thumb, unless you know who its from, and trust that they are providing you with a reputable link, don’t click it. Use the tone-check, if the Tweet isn’t using the typical tone of the tweeter, then assume it might be spamming or phishing. If you come across someone sending these links, don’t worry and don’t un-follow, just let them know that their account may have been hacked, and tell they can correct their problem.
Make sure you are ON Twitter:
Again this seems very simple, but it is quite easy for a Phishing website to change the URL to seem like a real twitter site. Ensuring this is a simple way to make sure you don’t “re-long in” to twitter giving your information away to hackers. Always make sure you are logging into Twitter.com, Faceook.com, LinkedIn.com or similar sites.
Hacking is a terrible thing to happen to an account. Take precautionary steps to ensure that you do not fall victim to Hacker’s tricks and your information and online (as well as possibly real) identity will be safe. Stay smart online.
Follow our tweets on this subject with
#BeaconTwacked
Links we found useful in fixing our own account:
Famous twitter accounts that have been hacked
What NOT to do when your twitter is attacked
Tips on how NOT to get hacked
How to stop the spam when your twitter account is hacked
How strong is your Password? Test your password options
Sometimes websites get hacked too. Here are some tips
Twitter Help Center – My account has been compromised
How I’d hack your weak password
Mashable – Hacked
Twacked: when Twitter Accounts go bad (Infographic)
6 ways to not get hacked by twitter Phishing Attacks
Anonymous hacks CBS and other companies
Anonymous – Hacktivists – Wikipedia
How to prevent your twitter account from being hacked
Got Hacked? Tips to prevent Phishing in your brand
MarketingProfs – Spamming page
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[post_content] => Sometimes registering with a website or for an event feels more like writing an autobiography. By the time you’re finished filling out the information fields, the computer bot or company knows your entire life story. Below are some tips and resources to perfect your registration page in order to avoid annoying your patrons, or worse--losing their patronage altogether.
Set your marketing goal:
First, understand what you are trying to gain by asking someone to for their information. Clearly, if there is no purpose for the acquired information, why not allow them to access your service hassle-free? Goods and services that don’t require registration can be accessed by a much larger audience. Weigh whether it is better for your company to obtain registration information, or to reach a wider audience.
Reduce your fields:
This seems like a no-brainer when creating a registration page, yet many registration pages have a significant number of fields. Think about which information is most important and pare down any frivolous fields. This will likely increase the number of people who complete the registration. According to Marketing Sherpa, only 72 percent of people provide their correct name in registration forms, 68 percent a valid email address, and only 38 percent of people give real phone numbers. Decreasing the number of fields provides makes patrons feel secure and less burdened. Thus, they are more likely to provide accurate information.
Find out your customer interest level:
An alternative is to offer people an option about whether or not they would like to be contacted. This is a creative way to obtain a correct lead source. By that, when a person clicks on your link to download/obtain/read/participate, you can use a statement like, “I would like to be contacted regarding your company,” or “I will seek out the information at a later time.” In doing this, you can reduce what information the person is required to enter, increasing the likelihood that they provide accurate information. Your company can also then have a better idea of the interest level of the person. In clicking “I would like to be contacted regarding your company,” the person would give their first and last name, phone number, and have an open notes section. From there, a sales person can contact this potential lead. If the person clicks, “I will seek out the information at a later time” then their fields would be fewer: first and last name, email, a comments box, and an open field with why they are registering. From this point, a company can send out the appropriate emails without spamming a person.
Registration pages can be a great lead source opportunity. Use this to your advantage and don’t alienate potential lead sources. Make it easy for them to access your material and consider giving it to them without filling out a registration page. While you are giving them a service, remember that you are trying to win them over so they can become a client. Avoid inconveniencing them with lots of fields or by spamming their inboxes.
Links we found informative:
Question, are you comfortable logging into websites other than Facebook with your Facebook account? How much information do you think the company is taking from your account?
How a registration page looks with eye heat tracking
How to think through the b2b marketing registration process
Two Non-Traditional approaches to b2b registration
Lose Control: Three reasons not to require registration for b2b content
To require registration or not to require registration, that is the question
Prospect intelligence is a terrible thing to waste - marketing interactions
Event Registration Rant
Seven ways to revamp your online registration form
Great Registration Design
Registration Topic at Mashable
5 actions you can take right now to improve your registrations and follow ups
Simple registration form changes to lift conversions: 5 ideas to test
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[post_content] => In today’s world where Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other social networks are a part of a person’s life from when they wake up to that last notification before bed, having an integrated social media marketing strategy is important to any company. Relying simply on blogging or one social media site will just not cut it any longer. Today a plan needs to be set on how a company will be on top of social media trends and on networks that apply to their business.
Simply having the goal of having a larger number of followers on twitter or Facebook is never a good starting point for a company. Quality is always better than quantity, and social networks are no exception to this rule. Having several thousand followers who do not interact with your brand is almost worthless. It will not create any sort of loyalty for your brand. So in creating your goals, in terms of social media, make the goal about improving something that can relate to profits for your company. Such as to increase brand awareness, increase awareness to sell a product, or customer engagement.
Having an editorial calendar in the office detailing the marketing team’s strategy for the week or month helps to break down the different jobs and roles each member of the team needs to complete in order to accomplish the goals the team has set. This way everyone has easy access to seeing the projects at hand so they can be accomplished on time. It takes the some of the stress away when planning how you will achieve something. Instead you sit down one day a month and plan the actions your team will take, and from there you execute those steps making adjustments when needed.
With Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Flicker, and so many other social media networks on the Internet today it’s difficult to manage them and effectively reach all of your potential audience. Whether you have a whole team to manage your company’s social networks, or you are the entire social media marketing team, these tips will help to make your life easier on the social media platform.
- Don’t over extend how many social networks your on
- If you are on a social network make sure you have a presence on it, even if you are only updating the account once or twice a week
- Interact with your customers
- Know when to respond to a negative comment and when to ignore it
- Create a net presence with your company
- Provide interesting and useful content to your audience
- Don’t sound like a robot, humanize your company
- Be professional but have fun!
Here are some links we found informative:
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[post_content] => Tweeting with a purpose: A Tweetchat how to
In a world where breaking news happens on twitter before it’s announced to the general media, twitter is more than a teenager/celebrity medium. With over 140 million users information and news is being spread at a much more rapid pace than in times before. That is why twitter really can be an excellent learning tool, especially in the form of a tweet chat. ATweetchat is a pre-arranged chat that takes place on Twitter through the use of Twitter updates (called tweets) that include a predefined
hashtag to link those tweets together in a virtual conversation. It’s like a chat room on twitter.
Formal Twitter tweet chats are arranged in advance and occur at a specific time. They may include a formal agenda with a specific leader or "speaker", or they might involve a free flowing discussion between all participants. Questions are predetermined and asked throughout the chat to the various participants. The conversation then flows with responses to those inquiries as well as any others that people have. Some of these chats are used as more of an open forum for users to ask any questions on a predetermined topic.
The general topic of Tweetchat is so new and untapped, that there is only a wiki page about it, but not a full Wikipedia page. This is NOT synched up to the twitter Wikipedia page, so it takes quite a bit of time to really find it. This page only highlights when different chats are on Twitter. There is such little information on this topic generally other than a few blogger’s thoughts. But twitter chats are a fast and growing network of people. Everyone from marketers to single parents can find a different outlet for their thoughts on twitter chat.
The basics are that there is a # to be used at a specific date/time each day/week/month. You can either follow the chat on any number of different platforms. The tweet chat platform, tweet deck, or hoot suite deck have proven to be the best to participate in the chats. The tweet chat platform is the easiest though since it automatically puts the # at the end of your tweet and makes it clear how many remaining characters you have. While all of these do make the whole process of participating in a tweet chat much easier you must take in mind the speed of the events. Based on the amount of people in it, and how often they are participating, this can be an overwhelming experience.
Here are some tips to stay active in a chat you are in, and to get the most out of it:
- Research the topic beforehand
- Send a tweet out before the chat starts so your followers will know why there is a sudden influx of tweets coming from you
- Make sure to re-tweet anything that you found valuable
- Give credit to the person that you re-tweeted
- Ask questions relevant to the topic
- Thank the moderator
- Watch your character count, and make sure to leave space so you can be re-tweeted
- Have a list of links to any pages you think are valuable to the topic
- Don’t go off topic or add points that are not needed for the chat
- Be honest but not insulting to your fellow chatters
- Have fun!
“The term tweet chat is sometimes used to refer to conversations that happen on Twitter using hashtags that have not been pre-arranged as a formal chat session. The term can also be confused with the third-party Twitter application, TweetChat.com, which helps users separate tweets related to specific chats to make them easier to follow.” (
http://weblogs.about.com/od/twitterfaqs/f/TwitterFAQTweetChat.htm)
Remember you are can be an active part of the discussion. Watching the discussion helps at times, but to really learn something and engage yourself the best way is just to participate.
Here are some links about Tweet chats that BeaconLive found informative:
Mashable Twitter search:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/topic/all/twitter
Five twitter tips for b2b marketers:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/2536/five-twitter-tips-for-b2b-marketers
Twitter B2B Marketing
http://www.marketo.com/b2b-marketing-resources/best-practices/video-social-media/marketo-twitter.php
Cool twitter trick: (two links) YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5idZY3mRdY
Video on twitter b2b
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUOxNfJF_Hw
Mashable Twitter guidebook:
http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
Twitter for business: the ultimate b2b guide (18 pages)
http://www.optify.net/guides/twitter-for-business-the-ultimate-b2b-guide
Twitter for b2b marketing, fad or function?
http://www.slideshare.net/dougkessler/using-twitter-in-b2b-marketing
Are b2b marketers not using twitter correctly?
http://socialmediatoday.com/steve-olenski/406471/are-b2b-marketers-not-using-twitter-correctly
9 tips for b2b marketing success:
http://blog.marketo.com/blog/2011/04/9-twitter-tips-for-b2b-marketing-success.html
Tweetchat.com:
http://tweetchat.com/
List of tweetchat:
http://www.gnosisarts.com/home/Tweetchat_Wiki
5 common mistakes your business makes on twitter @nealschaffer:
http://windmillnetworking.com/2011/03/02/improve-twitter-business-common-mistakes/
9 twitter etiquette tips for businesses starting out on twitter: @nealschaffer:
http://windmillnetworking.com/2011/03/22/twitter-etiquette-tips-for-businesses/
Social PR lifestyle, Favorite Twitter chats:
http://laurenkgray.com/2010/09/09/my-favorite-twitter-chats/
Beginner’s guide to understanding twitter chats:
http://grindandthrive.com/the-beginners-guide-to-understanding-twitter-chats/
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[post_content] => Creativity can touch every part of a person’s life if they let it. It is not just for the artists, dancers and free spirits of the world. The Lawyers, doctors and financial advisors of the world can be creative as well. When creating a webinar, even if it is purely just to re-educate a group of people, you have so many opportunities to be creative and still pass through the legal and/ or compliance departments. While they have to approve presentations to make sure that a viewer will in fact get credit for an event, it does not need to be dull and dry. Every person has a creative side to them, and this is shown in a Varity of ways. A lawyer uses their creative side to prove their point and win trials; doctors find creative ways to deal with difficult patients, and financial advisors create diversified portfolios. While these are just a few examples of how professionals are already encompassing a creative spirit within the workforce, here are ways to expand upon that to grow your business and to have successful webinars.
We have all been there, watching a webinar or presentation feeling our eyes glaze over. Hearing a monotone voice, that resembles Ben Stein’s from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, droning on and on about a topic you are not very interested in. Roughly 25% of people polled, according to market prof.com, fall asleep during PowerPoint presentations. Others, about a third of all people, would rather go to the dentist than attend a PowerPoint presentation. With statistics like this, please feel motivated to change the way you typically create a presentation. Here are some useful tips to give a good and creative presentation (that wont put your audience to sleep):
- Practice what you are going to say, superlatives during a presentation are distracting and take away from the overall point you are trying to make
- Apply principles that can be found in
death by PowerPoint
- Be confident
- Interact with your audience. Polls, surveys, even using audience members’ first names can make the difference with your audience.
- Don’t spend 10 minutes talking about what you are going to cover in your presentation, just start it
- Don’t waste people’s time with facts that are not relevant, their time is just as important as yours
- Keep font sizes to about 30 point, being able to read the slides is important. In addition this will limit you from sticking every fact you want to read allowed to your audience on one slide. People to do not attend webinars to be read to.
- Pick colors and fonts that look good but are easy to read. And while black type with a white background is a “classic”, step out of your comfort zone and give your viewers something interesting to look at.
- Make your bullets as short as possible so you can engage your audience with your content
- Don’t use clip art, use pictures
- While it sounds simple, avoid dead air. People tend to fall asleep here.
- Be friendly and entertaining changing the tone and volume of your voice where it fits in your presentation.
- When possible use videos and interesting forms of media within your presentation. It will keep your audience focused on what you are trying to get across.
Now that your event is over does not mean that the creative process is over. Marketing your content is almost as important as the event itself. If people cannot have a way to find out about your content, then all of your creative efforts will have gone to waste. Ways to creatively market your event without making it to time consuming are to share your presentation on all of your media sites. You don’t have to restrict yourself to one link and email marketing for your event. Tweet about your content being on things, such as media hub (link), or post the link on your Facebook brand page about your content being available.
Creativity is not something that should be ignored in the business world in an attempt to stay professional. It is possible to be creative with what you are presenting while staying professional and keeping your compliance/legal department happy. “Remember, PowerPoint is simply a means to an end. It is only a visual aid. Don't hide behind it and don't let it overshadow the protagonist—the speaker.” (Abhay Padgaonkar, MarketProfs.com) So try to follow some of these steps to let out your creative side and your audience wont be running to the dentist rather than watch you present.
Here are some links we found helpful:
[post_title] => How to stop putting your webinar viewers to sleep
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[post_content] => Direct marketing is a multi billion-dollar industry dedicated to communicating straight to a customer. It engages a customer and brings awareness for a product or a company. Do you know all of the ways you could be reaching your audience? Direct marketing consists of:
- Face-to-face selling
- Catalogs
- Direct mail
- Internet marketing
- Mobile messaging
- Email marketing
- Kiosk marketing
- Telemarketing
- Direct-response advertising
- Etc.
While some of these seem like very they would be simple and easy marketing methods, think again. Smart phones, tablet devices, and the internet are usually within an arm’s reach of a person. A person only spends on average 51 seconds reading an email, if they even open it. In fact, 20% open rate for an email campaign is considered very successful. A flyer or mailer is so easily thrown out, and yet your company spent hundreds of dollars on the campaign.
So you ask, how do I make sure that a person actually takes time to learn about what I am offering? That is not an easy question to answer. But make your direct marketing efforts stand out. Instead of sending out a postcard with just your company’s logo on the back, find a picture, quote, or anything that will make a person stop and look twice. Let your creative juices flow! And bring in social media any way possible even if it’s a simple hashtag or QR code. It can connect a person back to your website and help to educate them further on what you are offering them.
Standing out is not an easy thing, but make it worth a consumer’s time if they actually stop to learn more. Direct marketing can be an amazing tool to reach large amounts of people. So stay professional, but step out of the typical comfort zone your company has found itself in with its direct marketing plan. Reach out to consumers on new platforms, and see how far it can take you. An engaged consumer has an infinite possibility of value.
Here is a list of links we found helpful:
[post_title] => Getting out of the typical rut of Direct Marketing
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Read more about Increasing your Event Attendance, after the Event Here
As smart phone usage becomes increasingly more common in the business world, emails are being read at a higher volume on your phones before you see them on your computer. Around 45% of people are currently using their phones to check emails on the go, so you have to ask yourself if your email campaigns and promotions are proving to be effective, or even reaching your intended audience. Statistics also show that people spend only seconds reading emails, so in designing your email, you now need to tailor your message with the most important, memory catching information early on before you lose the readers attention forever.
Having your copy look good and being effective to the reader is very important when it comes to mobile emails. If the email requires the viewer to scroll for the full effect they are less likely to search for the content they opened the email for. If the copy is too small to read, your purpose could be lost as well.
A Few Quick Mobile Friendly Tips
Subject line:
Your subject line has now gone from 50 to as little as
15 characters (depending on how small the screen is), so use your space wisely. Focus on the main point of the email so you don’t lose any viewers. You want your email to be clicked on rather than deleted, so entice your audience.
Content:
Unless your company is using specific email writing software, such as CSS3, you need to have a good understanding of space and content with what you are fitting within your email. So
keep it SIMPLE! People are less likely to be focused when reading their email on their phone than they would be sitting at their desk reading it at a computer. You want to have your call to action or point as soon as possible. Do not make the reader dig for the content because they are not likely to do so on their phones.
[caption id="attachment_1923" align="alignright" width="182" caption="Image Courtesy Mass Transmit"]
[/caption]
Spacing:
So you have shortened your subject line, now it is time to shorten the formatting of your content. It is typically easier to read an email when it is sent in column form – each line being 20-40 characters. A screen can only fit (typically) 12-15 lines per screen view, so break up your text. In addition, do not make your font size to small. Any smaller than 13x pt a person will not be able to read.
Links and Pictures:
If you are going to include a link within this email remember the platform you are sending it on. People will be clicking on it with their fingers rather than mouse/track pad. So make it big enough that a person can touch and click it. The recommended size is at least 44px in height and width. Also, make sure that your links are not to close to one another. You want easy link access.
Try not to include any pictures within your email. It will take much longer for it to load and a person is less likely to wait for it.
Color and design:
When designing your email color of the background and font is an important thing to consider. What may look elegant crisp on a monitor can become very difficult to read on a mobile phone, for example a lighter gray background with white type. Design your email to look good on a mobile devise first so that you don’t have to go back and change it after testing.
Text only emails tend to get better results on mobile devices. They are easier to read, load, and understand. These emails also get much higher click through rates in general than HTML emails. If possible, create a list of readers you know would use a mobile devise to read their email. So that you could potentially send those customers a mobile specific email instead of the HTML one.
Test Your Mobile Email:
Test and retest the email to make sure that it looks good on a mobile platform. Send it to yourself before you send it out to the masses. Seeing that your subject line is getting cut off at an awkward place, or that the body of your email is not actually reading correctly is something you need to test out before sending it to clients.
Here are some links that we have found interesting/useful:
[post_title] => Is your email campaign getting lost in mobile land?
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[post_content] => Confused yet? Yeah, so were we. Here’s the difference
Curating your content. The first step in building a blog for your company is creating a ton of really informative and interesting content to share with your readers. But what should you talk about? Creating a blog with content that is both useful and interesting for your readers is always a cumbersome task. Searching the Internet for a topic that you personally think is interesting as well as applies to the overall themes of your company blog is a great place to start. But remember, there’s a fine line between shameless self-promotion and providing (useful) information for your readers. Researching topics can come from any credible Internet marketing (or non-marketing) site. Once you think of/find a subject that you believe will intrigue your prospective readers, do you then create the content? Well, no. You continue to research what else is out there in the Internet on the subject. Chances are much of the current information on the topic is very repetitive. For someone searching for tips or tricks on a subject, there’s nothing worse than finding yet another article suggesting the same steps and ideas. When writing out your blog or article, try to set your-self apart by offering ideas that all the other blogs and articles don’t provide. However, don’t completely cut out the typical information from other blogs on your topic, they are all saying the same things for a reason. Share links to articles and blogs that you found to be well written with your audience, and be sure to provide credit to the author.
Content Curation, on the other hand, is just sorting through all the content out there, and delivering it to your own audience (with correct citation, of course). You may already be doing this if you share content from
Alltop.com, Digg or Delicious. Do you read articles online, and tweet the ones you find most interesting to your followers? That’s Content Curation. Are you finding useful articles in your own research and providing it to your webinar audience? Again, Content Curation. It doesn’t matte if you provide a handful of links all discussing a similar subject, adding an intro and conclusion (as we are here), its content curation. According to
Econtentmag.com,
"Content Curation is the act of discovering, gathering, and presenting digital content that surrounds specific subject matter. Though it is still considered a "buzz word" by many in the content world, content curation is now becoming a marketing staple for many companies with a successful online presence." Increase your company’s online presence with using content curation within your marketing plan.
Its BeaconLives Content Curation week. Check out our blog to learn more about #BeaconCuration and follow our
Twitter this week
Did you miss any of the #ContentCuration tips and tricks? Check in with our blog and find all the links
What is Content Curation?
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=79167
#BeaconCuration
Interested in Content Curation? Check out this blog http://www.contentcurationmarketing.com/ #BeaconCuration
Are you building your readers trust in your blog and article curation? #BeaconCuration
http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/use-content-curation-to-build-readers-trust_b11280
What are your main objectives for Content Curation? http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2011/4730/brands-using-content-curation-to-build-thought-leadership via @marketingprofs #BeaconCuration
Content Marketing Trends for 2012 http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/6827/content-marketing-trends-for-2012-whats-in-and-whats-out #BeaconCuration
A Case Study in Content Curation http://www.blog.ssulive.com/post/2012/01/06/Scoopit!-A-Case-Study-in-Content-Curation.aspx #BeaconCuration
Best Content Curation Tools of 2012
http://www.iblogzone.com/2011/12/best-online-content-curation-tools-2012.html
#BeaconCuration
5 simple steps for being a content curating rockstar #FreeEBook #BeaconCuration
http://info.getcurata.com/rockstarebook.html
[post_title] => Curating Content versus Content Curation
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[post_content] => Trade shows can be an exciting and stressful few days for an exhibitor. You spend thousands of dollars and many hours to prepare for this show. Managing to get leads, seem engaging, and find time to sleep during the course of a show can be very difficult. So you might be wondering how to optimize your time and money so that you receive the highest ROI from your next trade show.
Climate of a trade show
Tradeshows are generally where everyone from one industry comes together to network and learn about the latest trends and education. Consider the industry you’re in, or will be visiting, to determine how you should dress at the conference. If the professionals in the industry tend to be very professional, suits are the expected attire for the show. If you are meeting with a casual, dress to match the audience.
You may find yourself traveling all over the country to attend a tradeshow-often in places with different climates than you’re use to. But just because you may find yourself in sunny Miami doesn’t mean you should dress for the warm weather. Tradeshows tend to be notoriously freezing in hotel ballrooms or convention centers. Plan to dress in layers, bring sweaters and blazers that can easily be discarded if you get warm.
Attracting people to your booth
Merely setting up a booth at a tradeshow wont draw people to you, so how do you get them to your booth? First, appear approachable. You cannot be eating, be on your phone, have your arms crossed, speaking to other exhibitors, and most important do not sit down! All of these things will make you seem like you are not as interested in speaking with someone walking up to your booth and it could discourage someone from walking up to you. Be available to talk.
“Freebies”
Giving away things at a trade show is an important consideration, but how do you decide what to give out, how much to spend, and who should get it? While pens and/or note pads can be the go to for a company try to get more creative when coming up with your company freebie. Tote bags or bags with your company logo that guests can carry the rest of their swag around in are great ideas. That way they will be able to reuse it in life, and your logo/branding will be out there.
Managing your leads:
When going to a trade show the main goal for an exhibiter is make as many contacts as possible. It’s important to network with everyone you meet, regardless of if that person has the potential to become a great sale. Collecting and writing notes on the back of business cards will remind you of who you met and what you spoke about when you finally return to your office. Follow up with any questions they may have had, or just shoot an email letting them know it was nice to meet them.
Final notes!
Stay professional, make meaningful connections for your company, and remember to smile. A trade show is work, but that does not mean that you cannot make it the best experience possible.
Links and tips we found helpful:
Marketing Profs
The trade show guy
Trade Shows – Trade Show Planning – Before you attend trade shows
Trade show rules and etiquette 2011
What makes a great trade show booth
Basic Trade Show Booth Set-ups tips
15 don’ts of a trade show
Tradeshow guy blog
Social Networking & Your trade show
Tricks and tips for trade show success
See your trade shows with fresh eyes again
18 Hidden Rules of Trade Shows
Doesn’t be ‘That Guy’ (or Gal) at Trade Shows
10 Things I wish I knew before I started exhibiting at trade shows
Mike Thimmesch’s thought leader blog – TSNN Trade Show News
Trade Show News Network
Master your trade show: Tips and tricks
Trade Show Lead Management: 10 top tips
7 things your social media consultant wont tell you
Four ways to use mobile at your next trade show booth
[post_title] => How to Survive a Tradeshow Season
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Spacing:
So you have shortened your subject line, now it is time to shorten the formatting of your content. It is typically easier to read an email when it is sent in column form – each line being 20-40 characters. A screen can only fit (typically) 12-15 lines per screen view, so break up your text. In addition, do not make your font size to small. Any smaller than 13x pt a person will not be able to read.
Links and Pictures:
If you are going to include a link within this email remember the platform you are sending it on. People will be clicking on it with their fingers rather than mouse/track pad. So make it big enough that a person can touch and click it. The recommended size is at least 44px in height and width. Also, make sure that your links are not to close to one another. You want easy link access.
Try not to include any pictures within your email. It will take much longer for it to load and a person is less likely to wait for it.
Color and design:
When designing your email color of the background and font is an important thing to consider. What may look elegant crisp on a monitor can become very difficult to read on a mobile phone, for example a lighter gray background with white type. Design your email to look good on a mobile devise first so that you don’t have to go back and change it after testing.
Text only emails tend to get better results on mobile devices. They are easier to read, load, and understand. These emails also get much higher click through rates in general than HTML emails. If possible, create a list of readers you know would use a mobile devise to read their email. So that you could potentially send those customers a mobile specific email instead of the HTML one.
Test Your Mobile Email:
Test and retest the email to make sure that it looks good on a mobile platform. Send it to yourself before you send it out to the masses. Seeing that your subject line is getting cut off at an awkward place, or that the body of your email is not actually reading correctly is something you need to test out before sending it to clients.