Philly Marketing Blog

Oh No, I Got The “Twitter Bug”

Twitter is a popular "micro-blogging" platform.

I have to admit, I am just now really getting into the whole Twitter craze.  Let me make it clear – I had an account pretty much from Day One.  I tend to be an “early adopter” of new Internet tools.  I just didn’t “get” Twitter at first. There weren’t many users in the early days, so quite honestly I found it boring and pretty much meaningless. Fast forward to the present day and it seems more and more people are jumping on this micro-blogging bandwagon.   I figured it was high time I got to Twitterin’ in earnest and see what all the rage is about.

I started by searching for other Twitterers in Philly.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of my favorite media outlets such as the City Paper, Inquirer, and Philebrity as well as favorite music venues such as North Star Bar and National Mechanics are Twittering.  OK, right on.  But get this, both Rittenhouse Square and PhilaChinatown are down with the Twitter craze.  Yes, that’s right, you can get Tweets (that’s short for messages from Twitter) from a Philly park and neighborhood!  Rittenhouse Square already has 331 followers and has been the focus of a recent Inky article.  Pretty cool if you ask me.

For goodness sake, you can even get local Philly weather on Twitter!  Consider me hooked!  But I digress.

Business Benefits of Twitter
Twitter is about instant publishing and communication.  It’s fast, concise (limited to 140 characters), and interactive. As with other forms of social networking, it allows you to connect with people.  These people may or may not be your existing or target customers. Regardless, from a business perspective, in this Web 2.0 age directly connecting with people is extremely important; it shows you actually care who they are and you are assessable.  Furthermore, this type of connecting with your customers can certainly promote and increase customer loyalty.  People want to feel special and that you are listening to them.  You can then take their feedback, learn and grow from it.

Business Opportunities using Twitter:

• Increase brand awareness
• Promote services or products
• Get immediate product or service feedback
• Announce special deals or discounts
• Publish company news items or “insider info”
• Promote events
• Drive traffic to your main site
• Network! Network! Network!

Any way you slice it, Twitter is a powerful online communication tool that is a force to be reckoned with.  There are many Twitter clones or other Twitter-like applications being developed every day (Pownce, Plurk, etc).  But Twitter remains one of the top micro-blogging sites around.

If you want to learn more about how Twitter and micro-blogging can help your business, contact me at phillymarketing (AT) gmail (DOT) com or you can follow me on Twitter! Fancy that.

Sources:
How To Use Twitter For Business
Using Twitter and Other Tools to Grow Business
Twitter for Business: The Definitive Guide

The Blog Phenomenon

Over the past few years, blogging has become incredibly popular.  Blogs started out as soapboxes for people to spout off about what was on their mind, whether it be a rant, or to document something personal.  In recent years, blogs have become much more than that.  They have become the go-to source of information for an infinite number of topics. You name it, there’s probably a blog about it.  In fact, according to the Blog Herald, there’s probably over 100 million blogs in existence today! Technorati says there’s a blog born every minute in the blogosphere.

Why Blog For Business?

The reasons are numerous, but it comes right down to a simple fact: blogs attract traffic!  What business website doesn’t want more traffic?  However in order to get that traffic, you must have CONTENT on your site.  If not, your blog will be dead in the water.  People want to actually SEE something when they visit your blog; regular content will keep them coming back.  Good content on blogs is the key! Good content should be high quality, concise, and focused on a topic.  Entries should be fairly short; simple blurbs are best.

Other benefits of business blogging:

• Connect with and respond to targeted customers
• Increases credibility and positioning as an authority/expert in your industry
• Builds visibility and brand persona
• Enhances SEO of your main site
• Generates leads
• Can enhance Public Relations and Promotional efforts
• Can help generate buzz about products or services
• Relatively inexpensive

While blogging may peak in a couple of years, blogs remain wildly popular and influential. Not only for the infinite amount of information contained within them, but also for the powerful, immediate social capacity within them.  Blogs can bridge the gap between your business and your customers – blogs encourage interaction, feedback, and conversations you might not otherwise experience through other means.  It’s an opportunity for your customers to relate to you one-on-one; and they’ll feel like you’re talking with them, not to them.  It’s a win-win situation if you ask me.

If you want to learn more about blogging and social media and how it can help your business, please feel free to contact me. Email phillymarketing (at) gmail (dot) com.

PPC vs. Organic SEO = Fight!

While I don’t think PPC is a complete waste of time, I also don’t think it’s for everybody.  It costs more because you pay for every click on an ad.  This doesn’t necessarily guarantee your return on investment; it doesn’t always mean those clicks will convert!

According to a study, 4 out of 5 search engine users report that they never click on PPC results.  I can attest to this.  I have put on blinders to most ads and I rarely click on those I do see.  Most users of the Internet today are pretty savvy.  They know an ad when they see one, and only 30% of those folks will actually click on it.

However, there are benefits to PPC programs and paid search certainly can work for some businesses – if done correctly.  If your bid for the appropriate targeted key words is successful, you’ll land on page 1 of a Google search. This can drive a lot of relevant traffic to your website all at once.  But ultimately this is where usability, good copywriting, and calls to action really need to kick in!  You still need to entice and encourage people to contact you or to purchase when they’ve landed on your website.

In summary, I feel a decent balance of good old fashion SEO and internet best practices, in conjunction with a PPC campaign, can drive targeted and qualified traffic to your site.