TopRank Internet Marketing News

Even with the best intentions, we may not always follow through on our marketing goals for the year. If you are looking to connect with your customers, implement a social strategy that sticks, or create a blog, there are some some practical steps you can take to reach your marketing goals.   In this post you will find tips and tactics for getting started, as well as helpful advice for sticking with them.

Have you ever noticed how young children figure out a maze? At first they may struggle going through each path only to realize that they can’t get through. By then, the paper may be filled up with messy crayon or pencil marks that make it virtually impossible to find the right way. Then as they get just a little older, you might see them look at the end point. They may even start at the finish line and work backwards to the beginning of the maze. It’s creative problem solving at its finest.

Over 175 million users are now registered on Twitter, and per data cited by PCMag, 95% of accounts have been created in the last two years.  And where ever 175 million gather, marketers will follow.

The number of registered Twitter users, and sharp growth over the last twenty-four months alone, suggest a channel that is more than just rapidly expanding.  They suggest an environment that is extremely noisy, extremely volatile – and in the case of unprepared marketers – an environment rife with opportunity for misstep.

Audience engagement, interaction, and participation are keys to building a brand on the social web.  Social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook offer unparalleled options for  audience engagement, but where should a marketer start with so many choices?

Fortunately, Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and Chelsea Bucoy, Sr. Product Marketing Manager for Zoomerang are here to help. Their on-demand webinar: Engage Your Audience with Social Media and Surveys recorded in July is available to watch at any time.

The webinar discusses important items such as:

• Why you should consider social media as a part of your marketing strategy

If an online marketing program were to be compared to an airplane, one could make the analogy that the left wing is a strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program.

Important as it may be, a left wing alone will not complete the elements needed to launch an airplane, just as SEO alone will not be enough to make up an entire online marketing program.  As social media becomes more prevalent, a social media marketing strategy becomes the right wing to help the online marketing program launch and maintain flight.

Below are three ways social media marketing helps support an online marketing program:

Suitably sticky social news headlines, crafted to help content resonate and burn throughout social media channels, is both an art and a science.  In a recent post to Online Marketing Blog, picked up by CRM Mastery, TopRank® Online Marketing Account Manager Adam Singer offers several tips to help readers craft compelling social headlines.

Below, find how two of the five tips offered by Singer have helped boost everything from search engine rankings to social media exposure for TopRank Clients.

• Leverage formulas which work for others
  ’16 Must-Read B2B Marketing Strategy Ebooks’ by Marketo

Social media provides a great opportunity to engage your target audience and increase brand awareness online. Social media encompasses blogging and blog marketing, social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, microblogging via sites like Twitter, social news and bookmarking, video sharing, image and audio sharing, and wikis.

To develop a social media strategy that works for your business, the first step is to outline your goals. What do you want social media to do for you? Drive traffic to your website, engage your target audience in conversation, build relationships with your prospects, or build awareness for your brand online.