Keeping Your Eyes on the Horizon
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
– Colin Powell
In the internet marketing business there is only one constant: change. In 2010, it's imperative to consider how the latest developments in the web, mobile and social marketing sphere will impact your business. And as Gary Vaynerchuck, the “Social Media Sommelier” recently posted in this video, it's important and intriguing to think about how today's new trends will affect consumer expectations, and ultimately your business. Yet it's equally important that your tried-and-true online marketing programs continue to evolve as well.
From the ever-evolving search engine marketing landscape and innovative email marketing strategies, to the increasing importance of social media marketing, and the striking insights and improvements made from web analytics and conversion rate optimization – it's clear that taking a comprehensive approach to your online marketing initiatives is more important now than ever before. Ultimately, we're optimistic about the outlook for 2010.
How can we help you Win on the Web?
Email Marketing: Innovate & Integrate
Email marketing has proven itself as one of the most powerful and productive marketing tools around. Every year, it's consistently ranked among the highest performing online marketing channels in terms of ROI. For years, we've been creating award-winning (we've just been nominated for our third award at this year's MarketingSherpa Email Summit) and innovative email marketing programs for our clients in the resort industry. We've developed email programs that are employable at nearly every phase of the customer life cycle – thereby strengthening customer relationships and building value in your brand.
There are opportunities for both acquisition and retention email marketing throughout the customer life cycle – and this applies to all types of companies, not just those in vacaction rental business. The remembering phases a great time to hit clients with a post-departure thank-you message. Survey your clients and seize the opportunity to leverage the persuasive power of positive reviews online. In fact, one of our clients, Southernmost On The Beach, based out of Key West, Florida, was just named in the Top 10 Hotels for Romance in the U.S. in the 2010 Travelers' Choice Awards by TripAdvisor. We make it easy for you to turn your happy customers into an army of online brand advocates. And when future prospects encounter positive feedback from real people online, the “wisdom of crowds” kicks in, and next booking is just a few clicks away.
Another hot topic for email in 2010 is extending the reach of your email marketing messages through Share With Your Network (SWYN) functionality. This allows recipients of your email message to share the online version of the email with any of their social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. The above email strategies and tactics are a must-do for your email marketing program in 2010!
» Read More on Leveraging the Power of the Social Web
Don't Hit Snooze on your SEO Strategy
Thinking you've safely secured your spot at the top of Google? Defend against the onslaught of big portal sites with a consistent SEO strategy. The fact is that 2010 is not the year to be complacent with your SEO program or rankings, traffic and ultimately conversions will be lost!
SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that requires consistent effort and attention. With over 100 factors that the search engines take into account when ranking a page, it's a very dynamic technical, process that requires the experience of an experienced SEO specialist. Our SEO consultants ensure that every aspect of your site is optimized to boost your rankings and deliver the highly-targeted traffic that the portal sites are increasingly ranking for. So don't rest on your laurels this year, instead optimize for success! Also, be sure keep an eye out for our new search marketing reports and a client satisfaction survey that will be sent to all current SEO clients next week.
Contact us to get started on an SEO Program
Social Influence Marketing: Tweet Me
Social media has been all the buzz for awhile now, so what will be different in 2010? In a word: maturity. I mean they've even got a "tweet me" Sweethearts candy for Valentine's Day – so it must be here to stay right? Social media – be it Twitter or Facebook – requires steady commitment, attention and authenticity to get results. It's not just about new customers and bookings – it's also about servicing your existing customers better and being available to respond to them. After all, it's about being "social" isn't it?
In the past year, we’ve seen some success from a couple of our VR clients that serve large “drive to” markets by announcing deals on Twitter. By simply broadcasting last-minute specials to their followers, they have generated some last-minute bookings. Railey Mountain Lake Vacations, the leading provider of vacation rentals resort area of Deep Creek Lake, Maryland recently generated a property booking worth over $7,000 from a tweet, not bad for a free service and the minimal amount of time it takes to compose a 140-character message.
Although, they’re relatively new to the social media space they’ve also done a good job generating web traffic via Facebook. In the past 6 months, Facebook has sent them approximately 3,300 visitors generating over $7,600 in revenue, all courtesy of this hugely popular free web service
» More Tips on How to Use Twitter
