Mediaboss Marketing

Online marketing goes way beyond having a fancy website for your company. In todays internet-driven society, it has become necessary for businesses, both big and small, to create an online presence that attracts consumers. Why? To continuously reach wider audiences and boost sales.

The internet has opened doors to a whole new digital economy which many consumers prefer over the traditional brick-and-mortar outlets. According to sales forecasts generated by eMarketer, retail eCommerce sales are expected to reach $4.058 trillion by 2020 worldwide. This figure reflects the increasing trend of online shoppers.

Image Credit: Cordis Technology

(Image: Image Credit: Cordis Technology)

Unfortunately, a lot of businesses are unaware of the importance of online marketing, few do not have a budget and many simply cannot dedicate enough time towards making a digital marketing strategy. Business success is all about giving customers exactly what they want with ease. Leading firms across the globe are ahead of the competition for a reason; they know how to tap into evolving eCommerce markets led by internet-savvy consumers.

So, the real question isnt about having an online platform for your business, but rather, how to effectively use that platform to bring in sales. So, lets discuss a few reasons why your business should consider online marketing:

Online consumers are reshaping shopping trends and creating more opportunities for businesses worldwide. According to PwC Total Retail Survey 2016, 54 per cent of consumers buy products online on a weekly or monthly basis. This figure is expected to grow by 2020, reflecting the increasing time spent by customers online. So as a business, would it be a wise decision to let go of ever-increasing online sales opportunities? No matter what industry your business operates in, it is crucial to create an online image that appeals to customers. At the end of the day, you want to bring in sales both through online and on-store mediums. So why not capitalise on your online presence?

In such as fiercely competitive environment, foregoing the idea of online marketing is not even an option. A simple competitor analysis will show you how many of your rivals are opting for online marketing channels. The real trick is to do it better than them, way better. Digital marketing tools offer plenty of options to experiment with online branding and marketing. Your job is to make an online marketing plan that fits your business ideology, attracts customers and doesnt exceed your budget.

Long gone are the days when one-size-fits-all marketing approach seemed the best. Todays era demands a more customised and precision marketing strategy. For every product or service, there is a consumer somewhere out there. How do you find these customers and pitch your product offerings? Online marketing is the answer! With so many online channels and social media platforms, you can target specific markets anywhere across the globe. For Instance, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram let you search for specific consumer groups based on demographics, interests, geographical regions and more. This means you can advertise your products to the right consumers and improve your sales potential.

Not all businesses have big budgets for marketing. Smaller businesses seem to struggle the most when it comes to allocating funds for marketing purposes, which makes competition seem unfair. But online marketing has levelled out the playing for everyone. The world of the internet offers equal opportunities to all businesses no matter the size, budget or location. All you need to do is find the right online tools and services such as local listing management, content marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and Social Media Marketing to position your business online. Traditional advertising mediums such as billboards, Television or Radio can cost you a fortune and may not be impactful. However, digital marketing is not only cost-friendly, but offers more reachability across the globe.

Consumer demands are continuously shifting and to stay at the top, you must meet these ever-changing consumer preferences. This means you must be constantly updated and aware of what your consumers are looking for, what they want, what they like and what they dislike. This information is essential for marketing purposes and paving way for future product offerings. Traditional marketing methods are typically one-sided, where information whether in the form of images or text is placed on mediums for consumers to view, offering almost zero-interaction. On the other hand, digital marketing offers plenty of consumer interaction and engagement opportunities. Through commonly used social media platforms, you can interact with your consumers, gain insight on their preferences and build a better digital marketing plan.

Branding necessary for long term business success. Consumers may or may not remember a product or service, but are most likely to associate brands with their shopping experience. One tiny mistake can give your business a bad name in the market and in the minds of your consumers. Put it this way, a brand is a perception of a business which exists in the minds of your customers. It can take several years to build a positive brand image. However, online marketing is helping new and small business quickly position themselves in the market and move towards strong brand building. Through online channels, you can advertise and create memorable user-experiences which add to brand building. Remember, branding isnt just selling a product or service, it is a combination of consumer engagement, pre and post-sales services, value-for-money and more.

Business growth is a must. If your business isnt growing, you are bound to fail sooner or later. And to grow, you need to promote your business and widen your customer base, continuously! You cant rely on outdated marketing tools to give you that global reach. Online marketing can give you a head start and let you expand your business. Especially for small or medium sized businesses, digital marketing offers greater opportunities to build a brand and reach out to potential customers.

Now we can conclude that online marketing offers far more benefits that traditional marketing. For business which are still new to the digital world, help is always around the corner. If you think you dont have the right experience or resources, you can join hands with a professional digital marketing team and have everything sorted out for you. There are multiple digital marketing companies which offer services to help guide and navigate businesses online. Advancing technology is another reason why its time to move on and explore the potential of online marketing. So, whats holding you back? Take lead and gear your business towards to success.

Myra Bari, content writer and editor, Cordis Technology Image Credit: SFIO CRACHO / Shutterstock

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Seven reasons why your business needs online marketing - ITProPortal

Jun 16, 2017 - (Newswire)

Orlando internet marketing company authenticWEB recently launched a new site for local restaurant blu on the avenue. The team at authenticWEB developed a site that is easy to navigate and make reservations while staying true to their established brand.

The main goals of the redesign was to create a site that is easy to navigate and highlight their sushi and craft cocktail menus. The design team at authenticWEB made sure to include sections on the homepage highlighting both their sushi menu and craft cocktails. The redesigned homepage also makes it easy for users to call or make a reservation with a call to action just below the header on each page. This ensures that a user can easily navigate to the reservation page no matter where they are on the site.

The design team made sure the new site was responsive for easy viewing on all screen sizes. Other calls to action on the homepage showcase private event reservations and a loyalty program. The entire site was made to be responsive for proper viewing on all platforms. The redesigned site can be found at http://bluontheavenue.com/

About blu on the avenue: blu on the avenue brings modern West and East coast cuisines together with a twist. Featuring fresh seafood, the Best clam chowder, salads, sandwiches, steaks and more. Inspired by locals and Orlando visitors; the blu concept in the heart of Winter Park has proved a great addition to the already thriving restaurants and shopping on Park Ave.

About authenticWEB: authenticWEB was started by Ian Garlic and Jessica Curry fueled by the idea that businesses could evolve and grow through the web. They realized that every small business has a unique story, and unique value to its clients. They also saw that most marketing professionals often treat businesses like products. In doing so, these marketing professionals lose opportunities, and find themselves unable to convey the business's message.

Original Source: https://www.newswire.com/news/orlando-internet-marketing-agency-authenticweb-launches-new-site-for-19617889

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Orlando Internet Marketing Agency authenticWEB Launches New Site for Local Restaurant Blu on the Avenue - WireUpdate

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What GAO Found

GAO's market review during a 2-month period found most examples of memory supplement marketing on the Internet. About 96 percent of marketing identified appeared on the Internet, and a total of 490 memory supplement products were identified by the market review. GAO found 28 examples of advertisements that linked supplement use to treatment or prevention of memory-related diseases, which is generally prohibited by federal law. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials subsequently determined that 27 of these examples appeared to violate federal requirements. Officials reported that they had issued two advisory letters to two firms and would continue monitoring all of the examples that were identified.

Oversight of memory supplements falls under FDA's general authority to regulate dietary supplements and their labeling, and the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) general authority to enforce the prohibitions against deceptive advertising. Between 2006 and 2015, FDA and FTC have taken similar types of enforcement actions for memory supplements as for other dietary supplementswith most FDA actions being warning letters and FTC actions being a mix of administrative and federal court actions. Nineteen of 551enforcement actions involved memory supplements. The agencies coordinate enforcement actions in the same way for all dietary supplements. FDA and FTC have done some outreach to industry and consumers on dietary supplement use by older adults as well as some specific outreach related to memory supplement enforcement actions. In prioritizing enforcement and outreach efforts, the agencies focus on safety, egregiousness of deception, and impact of marketing.

FDA faces challenges related to limited information about the dietary supplement market, including memory supplements, to inform its oversight efforts. FDA officials said the agency is exploring ways to obtain additional market information to improve its oversight. FTC officials believe their existing tools and information are sufficient to inform its oversight efforts. While Internet marketing of dietary supplements was a concern for agencies, consumers, and industry groups, GAO found that consumer groups were unclear about FDA's and FTC's roles for overseeing supplement marketing found on the Internet. FDA and FTC share oversight of marketing on the Internet, with FTC exercising primary jurisdiction over advertising on the Internet and FDA exercising primary jurisdiction over aspects considered to fall under labeling, including information provided at the point of sale. However, few documents explicitly delineate their differing roles and coordination in oversight, or communicate the roles to industry and consumers. Federal internal control standards state that agencies should communicate quality information with external parties to achieve objectives, and GAO has also previously reported that delineating roles and responsibilities are issues agencies should consider when collaborating. Absent clarification of FDA and FTC roles, consumers may not understand which agency to report concerns to involving Internet marketing, and there is a risk that agencies may not receive consumer complaints directly, which may delay agencies taking action to address a problem. Consumer complaints are an important tool for both agencies to learn about potential dietary supplement issues, according to agency officials.

Memory supplementsdietary supplements claiming to improve memoryare a growing market, with sales estimated at $643 million in 2015, almost double 2006 sales. FDA and FTC share oversight of memory supplement marketinglabeling and advertising claimsbut generally do not approve claims before products are marketed.

GAO was asked to review memory supplement marketing and oversight. This report examines (1) how memory supplements are marketed and the extent marketing targets older adults and may violate federal requirements; (2) related enforcement and outreach actions taken by FDA and FTC; and (3) challenges to agency oversight.

GAO reviewed five types of media (Internet, television, among others) to identify examples of memory supplement marketing practices and potential violations of federal requirements. GAO selected these channels using demographic and survey data relevant to older adults. GAO analyzed FDA and FTC data on enforcement actions for fiscal years 2006 through 2015the most recent data available. GAO also reviewed relevant agency oversight policies, interviewed agency officials, and interviewed selected consumer and industry groups.

GAO recommends that FDA and FTC provide additional guidance to consumers clarifying the agencies' differing roles in their shared oversight of memory supplement and other dietary supplement marketing on the Internet. The two agencies concurred with GAO's recommendation.

For more information, contact Seto Bagdoyan at (202) 512-6722 or bagdoyans@gao.gov.

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Clarifying FDA and FTC Roles Could Strengthen Oversight and Enhance Consumer Awareness - Government Accountability Office

Does your online marketing strategy have the following?

If you have all three youre probably nodding along and smiling at how youve checked all the boxes. But what if I told you that wasnt enough to get your business found online today?

Its time to go beyond the basics with your online marketing strategy and should you have to be everywhere to do so?

I recently read an eBook, The Everywhere Brand: Embracing the Universe Beyond Your Website (and App), by best-selling authors Jay Baer and Jeffrey K. Rohrs.

The eBook details the basic online marketing strategy and how it has changed.

These savvy authors say its time to think differently about how you engage customers online. And I agree.

Here are just a few of the ways online marketing has pivoted:

Jay and Jeffery define an Everywhere Brand as:

The Everywhere Brand is a brand whose digital knowledge the factual assets about a company that capture consumer attention exists consistently and accurately in a great many online locations, not just on a corporate website and app. This universal approach ensures that The Everywhere Brand serves customers on the digital planets they frequent, translates into a better brand experience, and drives more business opportunity.

The biggest point they underscore is that most website visits are 10-seconds or shorter in duration, and they are often referred by search engines.

7 Key Traits Of Brands Being Everywhere

Our authors also insist that if you want to be a be everywhere brand you must have the following seven traits.

1) You must be customer-centric. In other words, do you really know how your customers see you? How do they search for your brand online? How do they use search, maps, digital directories (think search engines and AI, like Siri or Alexa? Voice search now matters!

2) Be Active. Are you actively updating all of the information thats available online and through digital media to reflect your brands most current information? Because there are hundreds of digital areas that provide information on your company (maps, directories, search engines, social networks, GPS, etc.) this is no easy task.

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3) Organization. (DUH!) Outdated data and the cure to being everywhere means you have to put the three things to work:

4) Thinks in real-time. With 71% of all online searches happening in real-time through mobile devices, your be everywhere brand must also happen in real-time. When weather, illness, or other emergencies take place, are you prepared? Is your data instantly updated?

5) Is granular with their data. Taking a page from SEO, you know how important it is to stand out and be different. Meaning you have to get down to the nitty-gritty with your data and be AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE when putting information about your brand on the world wide web.

6) Is always responsive. Do actively solicit reviews for your company? Do you always respond to those reviews, even if theyre negative? You should! Feedback can be hard to swallow but responsive, be everywhere brands look at feedback as a way to improve.

7) Strives to be innovative. Granted, this is easier said than done. Resting on what you have done wont get you anywhere. Youve got to be a risk taker, make plays, run tests, and constantly be looking for whats next in your industry.

If your online marketing strategy is to BE EVERYWHERE thats totally fine (and doable). But you have to own it.

You can do that in three simple steps by:

As Jay and Jeffrey point out in their eBook,

This goes far beyond each locations name, address, phone number, and hours of operation.

If and ONLY IF you are able to make that commitment, go ahead and be a be everywhere brand.

If not, you may want to start taking baby steps to get yourself going in the everywhere direction.

How do you feel about the be everywhere business mentality? Do you agree or disagree, and why?

Like many of you, I've seen a fundamental shift in business due to social media & digital marketing. How do businesses take advantage of this? Where do they start? Is social media for everyone? In-the-trenches social media & marketing experience helps B Squared Media answer these questions for companies seeking Viewfullprofile

Link:
Is the Be Everywhere Approach a Smart Online Marketing Strategy? - Business 2 Community