Other options were to do SEM in-house (who has the time or the expertise?) or to hire a freelancer (time spent on manual work instead of strategy; and sometimes only SEO or PPC offered, not both.) Plus, no reporting technologies existed that could track numerous search engines all in one place and in real time. These were the “not-so-good” old days.

Let’s fast forward. For a few years now, small businesses are able to outsource teams of SEM experts to bring more visitors to their websites quickly and affordably. Finally, we’re able to offer custom solutions, results tracking platform, and short-term contracts at “you-can-afford-this” prices.

In addition, the way to get to top search engine rankings has changed. The biggest change by far is what search engines consider important. Fact: 7 of the top 10 factors that influence the search engines have to do with links.* But not all links are created equal — quantity and quality count.

Another exciting development that is a must for local businesses is Maps Optimization. It is a place on a search engine’s page where your business can display its name and phone number next to a map. These results typically show up above SEO results, so it is often crucial for a local business to be listed along its competitors.

I must admit that I get very excited when a service matures to be accessible to the masses because our economy runs on small business. As a company, we’ve been dedicated to staying on top of marketing and technology trends, especially as they relate to small business. That’s why I couldn’t be happier that the Search Engine Marketing playing field has been leveled.

*Source: SEOmoz.org

Well, I bet you’d have to reduce your visitor base to almost zero with that sort of thinking.

Now, I’m online a lot; I’d say I’m pretty Internet-savvy. And I do sometimes find myself frantically looking for that next logical step in the process, for example, “where the heck is that ‘next’ button?” And I look and look and look, and finally, oh, there it is! Whew. Even Internet-savvy people often wish things were a bit more idiot-proof.

So, ask yourself this: is your thinking more like “if we build it, they will come, and they better know how to navigate our site, or else?” Or, is your thinking “this is an ongoing process where we constantly improve our visitors’ experience?”

86% of local searchers follow up by making a direct contact and 61% of those make a purchase. New, local, and mobile searchers want to do business with you, if they can find you. You want new customers to grow your business, but do you show up where they’re searching? Local search maps optimization will move your business listing into the top 10 spots.

Step 1: Get your business profile into the top 10

If you’re not already in the top 10 local search map results, you’ll want to get there. When was the last time you noticed the “More results near…” link below and clicked on it? The reason you want to be in the top 10 is simple: you want those 86% of searchers to see your company name and phone number.

To get into top 10, you first must create a business listing with maximum relevancy to local and mobile searchers. Secondly, you must distribute your listing information to YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, Anywho.com, and about 40 other important online directories.

Step 2: Move your listing to the top

If you are already in the top 10 local search map results, or once you get into the top 10 with step 1, you’ll want to rank higher by building citations to your contact information on other sites and directories. You should update this on a monthly basis.

Step 3: Track your local search success

Now, what kind of marketer would you be if you didn’t track your return on investment? One way to track your success is with a call tracking service. Call tracking routes the phone number that is listed in the top 10 results to your business phone number, or to any number of your choice. A good call tracking service will also include a call recording, so that you can hear the calls customers place to your business, as well as provide you reports as to how your local search advertising is performing.

This is your chance to own a piece of the local search results page. Are you ready to stake your claim on the map?

Think of social media as user-generated content that is posted and shared on blogs and web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. Why is everybody excited about social media? They are excited because it allows them to form personal and business relationships and to connect in the online world. Businesses are excited because they can reach audiences large and small, local and global, with relatively cheap tools.

The numbers are staggering. Facebook is definitely king with over 200 million active users and over 100 million users who log on to Facebook at least once each day! It’s not just college students, either — the fastest growing demographic is 35 years old and older. And now that organizations can create a Facebook Page for their business or product, with over 4 million users who become fans of pages each day, you know where your customers are. They’re on Facebook!

Twitter is another social media site that has been in the news lately because it has grown a mind-boggling 2,500 percent in one year. It reached more than 13 million people in the US during last month, and will only continue to grow, thanks to celebrities such as Oprah who are now on Twitter. However, although Twitter is growing astronomically, a recent report says that it would take 36 years for Twitter to catch up to Facebook (if Facebook stopped growing today).

In our own experience, we created a Facebook Page for a non-profit client on a Monday this month. A week later they had over 800 fans.

But why is Facebook monumentally more important now than just a few months ago? Because only recently did Facebook make its Pages truly useful for business. Your content now automatically appears in your fans’ News Feeds.

Just a few months ago, you could create a Facebook Page, people would become your fans, but if they wanted to stay connected to you, they had to remember to visit your page for the latest news. And who has the time for that? If you really think that your business or product is always on your customers’ minds, don’t flatter yourself. It’s not.

Now, whenever you share a status update, it automatically shows up in your fans’ News Feeds. If you publish an event and send an update to your fans, it shows up in their Updates section. Finally, the information comes to your fans so they don’t have to remember to come to you. And, if a fan likes your update and clicks on the “Like” link, or comments on your update, all of their friends see it in their News Feed. Talk about spreading the word!

So, in Facebook’s words, you can now connect and engage with your customers and amplify your voice to their friends. What type of organization can benefit from having a Facebook Page? If you are a business-to-consumer company, a non-profit, an educational organization, or have a product to feature, and your target market has the same demographics as Facebook users, it’s a no brainer. You ought to be where your customers are.

But even if you are a business-to-business company, you could still benefit from adding social media to your mix. Let’s face it, at the end of the chain, your customers are people who have Facebook accounts. Intel might be selling its chips to computer manufacturers, but they indirectly sell to consumers who demand computers with Intel chips inside. That’s why Intel has more than 31,000 fans on Facebook.

What kind of information should you post on your Facebook Page? Your company’s and industry’s news, announcements, contests, specials, events, videos, links to latest blog posts, photos, and more. Most importantly, the info should be interesting, relevant, and useful to your customers and their friends.

And the beauty of it all? Up to now, you may have connected with your customers only one or a few times a month via e-mail or blog posts, maybe more, maybe less. From now on, you have the ability to be in front of your customers and their friends and family as often as one or more times a day. It may seem like a lot. But think of it this way: the way your customers interact with their friends and family has changed, as well.

Instead of staying connected via an occasional phone call or e-mail, they are in touch with their friends much more often, sometimes several times a day, via social media sites. Perhaps it’s time for you to jump on the same bandwagon.

We did. Ai Creative is now on Facebook. Connect with us!

If you plan not only to stay in business, but to come out of this recession with a gain in market share and stuck-like-glue customers, it’s time to grab the bull by the horns, if you haven’t done so already. There are plenty of companies doing business during the recession. There are consumers spending money. There are industries that do just as well or better during recessions. Think health care, education, law, or anyone in outsourcing. Are you interested in selling to folks who are buying?

The good news is that during recessions, the amateurs will go out of business in most industries. In good times, all kinds of people get customers without having experience or talent, exercising professionalism, or providing great service. Web design & development is one such example: because of the low cost of entry, anyone with a software program can call themselves a web designer. But now, you just can’t afford to hire your friend’s cousin to build your website.

And while it’s sad to see companies go out of business, people and resources get redistributed during recessions. These folks will find jobs or start businesses for which they’re better suited. Or, they’ll have to learn, shape up, and be bold to stay in business. The smart, aggressive companies, on the other hand, will have opportunities to grab and service all those orphaned customers. Just think of all the new customers you can get…with fewer competitors to go after them!

But the competition for all this new business will be fierce, for sure. So what are you doing to let your potential clientele know that you’re around and planning to stay? To make your voice heard among the noise? To have people pay attention to you? Do you have marketing programs and business processes in place to go after the opportunities?

If you already have successful marketing programs and strong business processes in place, kudos to you. Expand, expand, expand! If you’ve waited ’til now to start hustling, don’t despair. There’s still time to initiate new efforts. But that time is NOW.

Step #1: Evaluate what marketing programs you are currently doing and how successful they are. Are they bringing the ROI you expect, and if not, should you adjust or nix them? Just testing new methods for your existing tactics can do wonders to increase ROI. Can you improve the sales copy on your direct mail pieces? Have you tested various subject lines in your e-mail campaigns? Do you have opt-in elements on your website?

Step #2: What media mix are you using? I recently read that most businesses use 3-4 media channels for their marketing while very successful businesses use 8-10 different types of media. So if you’re only using 3-4, look into using more. But only if the 3-4 you already use are performing well. If not, go back to step one.

And, no, you don’t necessarily have to increase your expenses. There are many effective, low-cost marketing tactics to try and test to find out how they perform. Start small. How about a low-budget pay-per-click campaign to research what terms prospective buyers use to find a business like yours? Or a monthly e-mail newsletter? Or a small and targeted direct mail campaign? Or a maintenance program with recurring revenue?

Several of my clients are not only maintaining their marketing budgets this year, they’re adding new types of media to their marketing mix. We’re starting small, and that’s okay. If we prove that these new tactics work in generating more business, we’ll increase those budgets. After all, it makes sense to spend $1 to make $2 dollars, right?

I was fooled by an ad just this past week. As I’m browsing through the newspaper I notice an upside-down ad. I think to myself, “Wow, the newspaper misprinted this ad — sucks for the advertiser — and I’m sure they’ll raise hell!” There was no prominent headline (upside-down or not!), so I didn’t stop to look at it.

The next day I see the same ad, still upside-down, but in black & white. I think, “I can’t believe this! The newspaper printed it upside-down AGAIN! What morons!” I don’t stop to check out the ad in detail because all I can think of is how incompetent the newspaper is.

A few days later, I see the same ad for the 3rd time — you guessed it, still upside-down! And, wow, this time I finally notice the “You’ll Flip For These SAVINGS!” as the only portion of the ad that is readable (not upside-down).

Now, that made me think. Okay, so they’re trying to be clever in an attempt to stand out, but was I the only one who didn’t make sense of it until the 3rd time?! Am I the moron here?? I hope not. The thing is, their only readable line wasn’t the most prominent element, so I didn’t catch it the first two times.

I wonder how many people had a similar reaction to mine — thinking it was a misprint and skipping it?

And that’s my point. I am a more engaged reader than most because I specifically like to browse the ads to see who’s doing what. Most people out there aren’t as engaged.

Plus, I happened to see it 3 times, but what if I only saw it once? The only thing that would stick in my mind would be how incapable the newspaper is, especially now that companies are careful how they spend their every dollar.

I think this is a perfect example of how too clever of a campaign becomes meaningless, useless, wasted, and plain silly. Did you see this ad in the Boulder Daily Camera? What did you think? Did you get it or did you skip it? And even if you didn’t see it, what do YOU think?

That’s right. As advertisers are pulling back, networks and newspapers are willing to accept “junky” ads and show infomercials at 7 o’clock in the evening. No, these are not highly artistic ads. There’s nothing “sexy” about them. They don’t have “clever” copy or meaningless headlines. No blocks of useless white space. Yet they consistently continue to sell more than typical ads you’re used to seeing. Why? Because they use tested elements that work.

Recently, I noticed the above direct response ad take up the entire back page of a local newspaper. These guys are pros. They got so many elements right, starting, of course, with the headline. They know that the most successful headlines are the “self-interest” ones. They’re based on benefits to the reader — something readers want and can get from the advertiser. In this case, joint pain relief. And the headline is written in big, bold type to stand out.

This ad uses long copy which is absolutely fine because it has a good headline. It’s been proven that long copy works better than short copy, granted that you have a powerful headline, followed by a compelling subhead, followed by a telling first paragraph, then the second, and so on. As long as each piece of information contains effective sales points, the reader will make time to read the copy, even if it’s long. And the font is easy to read which is also important.

What about the visuals? If you’re going to use any visuals, use pictures that not only get attention, but that sell. For example, pictures of animals have been proven to get attention, but you can’t use a picture of a puppy to sell refrigerators. This ad uses people’s heads — a potent tactic because this type of picture brings more sales than other types, especially for a testimonial advertisement. It uses a professional Quarterback’s testimonial about his mother to add confidence in the message and increase reader’s interest. Translation — more sales.

Lastly, check out the “How to Get This New Pill” section. It features three important elements:

1. Sense of urgency — The hotline closes 72 hours from the ad’s publication day;

2. Credibility — Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart will carry this new pill;

3. And, most importantly, a priority code — the advertiser can track the results of this ad!

Now, there are other elements that make this ad a good one. I just pointed out the most significant ones. Use these tested methods the next time you write a print advertisement, a direct mail piece, a sales letter, etc. If you write a powerful headline, the job is half done. The copy will be read. Add a good picture to support the sales copy (if you have space for it), a sense of urgency, and a way to track responses to the ad, and watch it produce sales results!

On a recent weekend I was hosting a dinner party for my family. I went to Whole Foods in Boulder to buy groceries, and decided to purchase wine at the Ace store next door. I have my other favorite liquor stores in Boulder, but Ace recently relocated to a nice 8,800 square feet space right next to one of the busiest grocery stores in Boulder. So, the new location is great for their business.

The roomier space allowed Ace to triple its wine selection, add larger coolers for beer, and create a bar for wine tastings. They even dropped “discount” from their name (formerly Ace Discount Liquor) after deciding to carry higher-end and organic wines, but still kept their prices competitive. So, they’ve got a large selection of great products at reasonable prices.

And they’ve been doing a good job of advertising their new location, their tasting hours, their expanding selection of wine and spirits, and their coupons. So, lured by their advertising and the convenience of their location, I went to buy a couple of bottles of wine.

I went to a clerk who was reading a magazine to ask what kind of wine he would recommend for my dish. He looked up with utter boredom on his face and said, “I have NO clue”! Shocked, I tried to make a joke, and then he said, “I don’t drink.” To which I replied sarcastically, “You work at a liquor store and you don’t drink?!” To which he replied, “It’s just a job.”

The second clerk overheard our conversation and was barely more helpful. He said sheepishly, “I think a lighter wine, like Pinot Noir.” But he didn’t point me to the Pinot Noir section nor showed me any specific bottles. Unbelievable! I suppose I expect clerks not to be reading magazines when customers are in the store. I expect them to be eager to help and to impress me with their knowledge of wines generally, and food & wine pairings specifically. I expect outstanding customer service.

But more importantly, I expect them to try to upsell something; oh, I don’t know, ask me about the occasion for the dinner and perhaps recommend a dessert wine or an aperitif. Needless to say, no one was interested in having me walk away satisfied and come back for more. And this is at a time when retail stores are complaining about dwindling profits, or worse, closing!

Which brings us to the point that you can generate quality leads only to lose them due to inadequate business processes and wrong people within the company. Like having employees who don’t care. Or sales people that can’t sell. Or owners who hesitate to spend money on employee training. In the end, the advertising campaign that lured me into the store was a waste of marketing dollars, as far as I’m concerned, because I’ll be shopping somewhere else.

The good news is, there are boundless opportunities during these tough economic times for “on-the-ball” companies who provide exceptional service to gain market share. There will be fewer competitors. And more potential quality employees to choose from. The cream will rise to the top.

It’s a small and simple ad — nothing fancy, no striking illustrations, but it does a much better job because it tells you exactly what it offers right in the headline: beads!

The headline element is huge compared to the rest of the copy in the ad, and it is precisely what catches your eye. In a matter of seconds you decide whether the ad is for you or not. If you’re interested in beads, you’ll stop and read the rest of the copy. If you’re not, you’ll glaze right over it.

The beauty in this simplicity is that you don’t have to think too much. The ad isn’t asking you to figure out what some clever headline such as “Spring Break 1997 Double Dare?” means (an ad for a tattoo removal place). Their subhead “Regretting that tattoo you got?” would serve better as the headline.

Or a meaningless headline such as “Rule 1: Never give anything away. Rule 2: Never follow Rule 1.” means (an ad for the Advantage Bank). I still don’t know what they meant by it or what they were trying to promote. A more effective headline that appears in the same newspaper is in an Elevations Credit Union ad: “We have money to lend you!” It appeals to a reader’s self-interest and it’s timely.

Which brings us to the fact that the most important part of an advertisement is the headline. The success or failure of your advertisement campaign may depend entirely on the headlines used in individual advertisements because if the headline doesn’t grab the reader, she won’t read the rest of the copy. And the most effective headlines are the ones that appeal to the reader’s self-interest, but more on that in the next post. In the meantime, happy headline writing!

My all-time favorite bad ads are the ones where a particular company puts itself into the same category as, say, Coca-Cola, an instantly recognizable brand name. The marketing folks at this company surely must think that they’ve got a household brand name, but, alas, they don’t.

Mistake #1: Well, for starters, the company’s name (or sometimes only the logo without the spelled out company’s name!) is the most prominent, eye-catching element. Timberline? Who is that?! And if you aren’t like me, actually paying attention to what’s in the ad for fun’s sake, I doubt you’ll notice the tiny, tiny text somewhere in the ad that actually may say what the company is or does. My bet is you’ll turn the page over in no time.

An example from the Boulder Daily Camera:
An ad by Timberline

Mistake #2: Simply, no benefit statement. What’s the offer? Why should I shop at Timberline? Who are they? What’s good about them? What makes them better than the competition? Am I even their target market? Bottom line, why should I care?

There are many more mistakes; these are just the very obvious ones. And those are the easy ones! Nevertheless, I see this over and over, big and small companies alike. And then, inevitably, advertising gets a bad rap: it doesn’t work, it’s too expensive, it doesn’t increase the sales. Of course, bad advertising doesn’t!

In this case, could it be because certain marketing folks and business owners tend to equate branding to marketing?