17 Feb

5 Ways to Engage Facebook Fans

By Todd Sayles In Marketing Tips, Social Media Marketing /  

Has your company decided that Facebook makes sense as a channel to connect with customers and prospects? If yes, we offer these five tips to get started, and to stay on track to meet your marketing goals.

  1. Be easy to LIKE: Tell visitors exactly what they will gain by becoming a fan. In marketing terms, you need a clear call to action and an incentive. The most successful companies offer fans exclusive access to something of value to the customer or prospect.
  2. KISS frequently: If your customers and prospects are using Facebook, they’re looking for a quick, easy way to keep up-to-date on your company’s activities, or to connect with others who use your brand. So, post information or comments at least once a week, and keep it short, simple and straightforward.
  3. Say thanks: Ask fans to send in pictures of themselves posing with your product. Sell a service? Ask you fans to send in a photo that shows what your service means to them. And acknowledge responses by highlighting a Fan-Of-The-Week (or month, or whatever interval makes sense for your business). Give special fan-only offers.
  4. Look different: Many elements of a Facebook site are fixed, but there’s lots of room to use visual design and other features to spice up your company’s site. In fact, it’s possible to include surveys, games, apps, order forms, customer service functionality, and more.
  5. Let go: Use a social channel right and your brand fans will keep a discussion going, if that’s what they want. One of the biggest keys to success on Facebook is embracing viral marketing without fear. We know this is easier said than done in most organizations. If your company needs to have complete control of online comments, Facebook probably isn’t the right channel to invest time, money and effort.

What’s your company’s social marketing plan? Not sure how to use Facebook or other online social networks to achieve your business goals? We can share experience from setting up simple Facebook business pages to creating marketing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter for our clients. Want to talk more about social media marketing? Contact us

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23 Oct

Measuring the Success of Your Email Program

By Todd Sayles In Email Ads, Marketing Tips /  

In today’s environment of shifting and tight marketing budgets, it’s not enough to merely know how an email campaign is performing on a onetime basis.

Although email process metrics such as delivery, open, and click-through rates have their place, you need to look beyond them to detect the true impact of your email marketing—and opportunities for continual improvement.  Click here for more info.

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21 Jun

What hour of the day can you be the greenest?

By Jesse Velez In Email Ads, Other tips, Real Estate /  

Two weeks ago I was at the ICREWNJ luncheon at the Woodbridge Hilton. ICREW is a great organization that brings together companies that service the commercial real estate industry. From brokers to IT professionals to furniture consultants they are all there. The group is organized by women who have a common goal to:

  • to advance the professional development of women in commercial real estate through educational meetings and seminars and
  • to promote opportunity for business growth through networking on a local, state and national level

They always have a speaker that can give some insight into the real estate industry. This month it was Adam Zellner who is the President of Greener by Design. I had seen him at another event wherein he discussed the need to build with energy in mind. The ability to obtain credits for the creation of energy via solar panels, windmills, etc. could definitely help property owners in this day and age.

What got me this time in his speech was the 3PM to 4PM syndrome. He told us that most of the energy bill for a day comes from the time between 3-4PM. That is the time when the kids get home, everyone is at their desks, PlayStations and whatever else turn on an make a drain on the “net” as he called it. He said if we were able to conserve during those periods by:

  1. shutting down some lights
  2. turning off some non-essential systems
  3. unplugging the cell phone chargers that are just stuck to the wall
  4. or turning off the computers we just have to leave on

the bill would dramatically decrease. To me that was interesting to know that in one hour a day I’m getting billed the highest electric rate of the day and that if I could just make a change for an hour it would make a difference. Wow! That seems too simple. For more information feel free to check him out at www.gbdtoday.com.

The question is what could you and I do differently to keep our green (money) from 3-4PM. What can building owners do? Comments are welcome.

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21 Jun

How can you involve your potential customers?

By Jesse Velez In Email Ads, Marketing Tips, Real Estate /  
Gold Key

Gold Key

Our team just came back from the Kean University Design Conference: Thinking Creatively. Last year I went to the How Conference and I have to say that although the Kean University Design Conference was on a smaller scale it definitely was worth the time. I would go back next year in a minute.

One of the sessions discussed how you can involve your prospects in your brand. What does that mean? From the instructor’s point of view you have to start by asking What, Why and How? What am I trying to let my prospects know? Why is it important to them? How can I let them know about this opportunity? After you answer those questions you make it personal; you create an experience they will remember; you become a storyteller and everyone loves a good story.

For real estate an example may be the following:

What: I have 25,000 sq. ft. of office space located in Paramus
on an often crowded Route 17. We are in an Excelsior owned building, known for its owner’s quality standards. Our prospects include accountants and law companies with leases expiring in 6 months.

Why: Tenants will need quality space to impress their own potential customers and maintain a level of standards in their staff.

How: The space will be promoted via events prospects will attend in addition to direct mail mailings.

Make it personal: Call the space the Gold Key space. Mail potential companies a gold key symbolizing the quality of the building. Show pictures in the brochure that highlight the quality entrance, doorman, lounge, etc.

Create an experience: At a trade show that your target market attends have people give out gold keys that open different elaborate doors at your booth. After a short presentation, introduce a few beautiful doors. Behind each door there will be something special about the building and behind one door is a free “fill in the blank” prize showing quality.

Be a storyteller: The gold keys also lead to a website. Here they view a video of a tenants experience of being in the building. That experience could highlight an instance in which they received excellent service (repair, catering, etc.).

What would be your “fill in the blank” prize? Comment on this eblast.

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24 May

Can Offline Ads Boost Your Online Results?

By Todd Sayles In Email Ads, Marketing Tips /  

Nowadays, email and websites are touted as the best ways to get new business. The traditional means of attracting leads or customers using print advertising or direct (snail) mail seem to have fallen by the wayside. While it may be true that online advertising can be a cost-effective way to attract customers, don’t forget about print campaigns to augment your online promotion activities. Magazines, in particular, can boost effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Research shows that magazine ads drive people to the web more than email or online ads. The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) and BIG research surveyed over 15,000 consumers and found the top 10 media that trigger an online search (Adults 18+) are:

51.6% Magazine
47.7% Read an Article
44.2% TV / Broadcast
41.3% Newspaper
35.6% Cable TV
35.3% Face-to-Face Communication
33.8% Coupons
30.3% Email Advertising
29.3% Direct Mail
28.2% Radio

Why are magazines so effective? Remember, many magazines are highly specialized. There are magazines devoted to the not-for-profit industry, like The Non-Profit Quarterly. What if your client base is local? As an example, in New Jersey, you can reach women over 40 with Silk Purse Women or people interested in organic foods by advertising in Edible Jersey. You might be able to find a local, national, or even international publication that reaches your target audience very cost-effectively.

Here are some questions to ask when considering magazine advertising as part of your marketing campaign:

1. What are their subscribers interested in?
2. Where are their subscribers?
3. How many subscribers do they have and when was that last counted?
4. Does the editorial style of the magazine fit my product?
5. How will the ad fit into the overall campaign? Will it drive people to a website, to make a phone call, etc.?
6. Can I afford to advertise more than once?
7. What is cost per conversion/sale? Can the campaign be profitable?

More interesting statistics and case studies are available for free from the Magazine Publishers Association.

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Digital Marketing Strategies
17 Aug

Five Digital Marketing Strategies You Should Not Miss!

By Todd Sayles In Uncategorized /  

Digital Marketing Strategies

Let’s face it. The world of digital marketing is constantly innovating. Marketers would know that there are countless digital marketing strategies out there and not one of us can pinpoint the best of the best. However, based on experiences, we can name specific strategies that businesses should not miss. 

First, you have to know that as marketers, we know that there is one endless cycle that we have to go over and over to unlock the most efficient strategy — analyze, plan, and execute. 

Digital Marketing and your Business

There are many ways to advertise your business. Traditional marketing has been widely used by businesses in the old days. And today, businesses continue to innovate and improve their marketing initiatives through digital marketing.

Digital Marketing pertains to the component of marketing that utilizes the internet or the online platform to reach your customers. It is a broad field that encompasses several ways to get to your audience. This includes email, social media, video, online display, search engines, among others. 

Your presence alone is insufficient if you are to consider the competition of businesses using the online platform. The components of digital marketing can get very complicated. And by knowing how to use the platforms correctly, you become one step ahead of the competition.  With this, a dedicated digital marketing strategy is essential to carry out the best and strongest returns. 

Five Digital Marketing Strategies To Consider

Five Digital Marketing Strategies To Consider

 

Below is a list of digital marketing strategies you should not miss:

Create a Blog for your website

Marketers believe that content is king. There are many types of creating great content from graphics to videos to copies and blogs. Adding a blog page for your website gives you a different approach to your audience. Writing blogs can get you to talk about the industry you’re in, educate and even entertain your audience.

Invest in Search Engine Optimization

Learning the top-selling keywords, analyzing your website, choosing the right content, improving user experience, and identifying offsite strategies to drive traffic to your website are just some of the very complicated and essential parts of SEO. These strategies will help put your website on top of the search engine even with the presence of a thousand other websites. That being said, hiring an expert or investing in learning about this would definitely ace your game.

Strengthen Social Media Game

Strengthening your social media game does not mean you need to have a business page for every social media platform. You see, social media is where most audiences from different ages, races, places are. Any business with social media marketing experts would know that they do not just simply post and expect that they generate a sale.  There is the right content for every platform. To ensure efficiency, social media marketers need time to go through a thorough process. This involves observing the competition, analyzing and target the right audience and their responses, curating posts, and doing analytics.

Provide Free Resources 

People online love to get resources for free. These free resources would help put a mark out there for your business. These resources could be royalty photos, tips, checklists, webinars, ebooks, among others.

Utilize User-generated Content

User-generated content is what builds up your business credibility. This content refers to product reviews, testimonials, advocacies, and even comments. Some businesses would consider influencer marketing and some would really strengthen their customer relationships to develop customer loyalty. These are effective efforts to show your target audience that you let your customer’s experience speak for your brand. 

The list of known digital marketing strategies can go on. It’s endless and over time, we add more to the list with these constantly changing demands, interests, trends, and tools. You can go on experimenting with the different strategies or consult with the experts and give your company an advanced marketing boost! 

Call us today at 973-655-9696 for a FREE CONSULTATION or let’s get you on a Marketing Retreat! This will offer you a half-day marketing research segment, marketing creative strategy document that comes from the retreat, marketing advice, and free food!

Todd Sayles, Principal of Creative Mind Consulting Group, has built a successful organization that services real estate, retail, hospital, and wellness clients among others. His team’s expertise includes problem-solving/market strategy, design, and marketing consulting, creative design, online website development, content, and design creation for digital media and print collateral, public relations, search engine optimization, and collaboration with outside designers and writers.

Creative Mind Design Group teams up with clients to strategize on marketing challenges and design goals. We come alongside companies to ultimately create inspired design alongside brilliant results.

 

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