Now, that’s probably not what you expected to read in this space. More likely, you thought we were going to tell you how, since it can potentially attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, your website is an important – and probably the most important – part of your marketing mix. You thought you were going to hear about how it doesn’t just help you with sales, but also public relations, customer service, and even recruiting. You just knew we were going to tell you that your website represents some of the best money your company can spend.

And those would all be correct… as long as you’re building a site with an online marketing plan to go with it.

Here’s what we are getting at: a new website for your company is fantastic, but unless you’re making the accompanying investment, in time or money, to search engine optimization, social media marketing, improved content for your landing pages, and so on, then you probably shouldn’t expect to get too much out of it.

Too many prospective clients are out there just looking for “a website,” and too many web design firms are happy to give them one – and collect a fee – without taking the time to learn about the client’s real needs and business goals. But a website built without purpose or plan is just an expensive online brochure. With the right tools in place, it can be a huge boost to your businesses income.

Do you need more help turning your web design project into a profitable online marketing plan? Then contact Marcy Design (614-224-6226) today – we’ll give you the kind of personal service clients have come to expect from us for years.

This number is gold.

http://www.callsource.com/ROBERT-FRIED

One of those things – and one that’s often overlooked by dealers and web designers alike – is the writing on your pages.

After visitors have been blown away by your great design, stunning photos, and unbeatable reputation, they’re still going to have to read about your dealership and cars you are selling. Paying a bit of attention to what you put on those pages can give you a leg up on the competition.
Here are three tips to get more mileage out of the copy on your dealership website:

Tell a story. It’s almost cliché to say that people buy cars for emotional reasons… but that doesn’t make it any less true. If you can describe your autos in a way that makes it easy for buyers to see themselves in them, that will translate into more people on your lot.

Emphasize the positives. It goes without saying that every model of car – every shape, color, price, and performance profile – makes it a good fit for somebody. Learn to describe those benefits on your website the same way you would to a shopper.

Don’t go over the top. At the same time, no one wants to feel like they’re being oversold, so take care to ensure that the language you use doesn’t go too far. Point out what’s great about a certain model, and then let it speak for itself.

Too many dealers fail to put a lot of thought into the copy on their website, which is too bad, because it keeps buyers who might have otherwise been interested from checking them out. Follow these tips and be sure your dealership’s web copy is giving you an edge. Or, if you really want revved up results, talk to Marcy Design about giving your site a tune-up – it’s a great way to increase sales.

The New Yorker’s long-awaited digital edition launched Monday, following in the stylistic footsteps of Wired magazine’s iPad app. With the release of Gourmet Live last week Condé Nast is now pursuing three distinct approaches to tabletized magazines in a nascent business where the rules are still being written and, sadly, subscription pricing is still a way’s off.

Like the other Condé Nast digital magazines — GQ, Vanity Fair, Glamour and Wired — The New Yorker digital is a free app download that allows you to buy only single issues of each publication and alerts you when a new one is available. In the case of the New Yorker, that will be every week — actually 47 times a year.

Like Wired, which debuted in June, it is produced with Adobe’s InDesign, which allows publishers to easily leverage the work already done to create a print version to produce a digital edition. GQ, Vanity Fair, and Glamour, on the other hand, are produced using technology and techniques developed in-house. Initially The New Yorker was slated to use the in-house technology. But after the release of the Wired app — which sold 24,000 copies in 24 hours — the publication changed course.

Gourmet Live is produced in an entirely different platform and is less a digital re-birth of the eponymous print magazine killed last year than a re-boot, with deep social network integration and game-like rewards but much less editorial content and no cover price. (Disclosure: I was a beta tester of the app under NDA).

All of the print New Yorker’s content is included in the app on pages that have lots of negative space, the familiar New Yorker font (writ quite large, as if everyone wants the large print edition) and a very uncluttered feel. There are extras, like the time-lapse video of David Hockney’s cover, drawn with the iPad app “Brushes,” and a tongue-in-cheek introduction to the digital edition performed by Jason Schwartzman and directed by Roman Coppola. And for those of you (us) whose habit is to check out all the cartoons first: Tapping on any one takes you to a gallery of them all.

Does it work? It’s a sister publication, so take my view with a grain of salt. First, the negatives: There is a sizable constituency — even among my colleagues in the cutting edge tech writing dodge — which doesn’t get the whole magazine app thing at all. Tablets, for all that we write about them, are still rare by any measure. You can’t share a copy of your digital magazine — or even an article or a cartoon — without sharing the device itself, which seems like a step backwards on the digital evolutionary scale.

In the New Yorker app there are no digital sharing tools yet. And NewYorker.com is alive and well on the not-yet-dead web. Although the site doesn’t offer everything that is in either the print or digital versions, it’s free — and also available on your connected iPad.

But having said all that there does seem to be something going on here. I find myself increasingly uneasy even handling non-digital versions of traditionally digital media, and I am getting very used to the idea that everything I might want to read or watch or listen to is always with me. Gone are the days of pre-planning or ruing the one reading choice I made in advance or sneaking looks over the shoulder of the person next to me reading his newspaper at a pace which I hope matches mine.

The risks to publishers to get into this game are relatively small, and the upside potential is excellent both on the cost and revenue side — not at single-issue pricing, of course, but when subscriptions within the Apple eco-system happen. Digital editions are counted by the IAB the same as print copies for the purpose of calculating circulation — and ad rates — so even just cannibalizing your print subscription base, and adding no net new subscribers, greatly improves your margins.

At $5 a digital copy, there won’t be many people who would buy even most of the New Yorker’s 47 annual issues, which cost $40 for a one-year print subscription and $100 for three. But it is unlikely you will pay less digital subscriptions (unless you are so far out of the delivery range that you already page outrageous postage). Media executives inside and outside of Condé Nast have told wired.com that they are determined to try to charge more for digital subscriptions than they do for print — small digital dollars instead of print pennies — because they believe they are offering a much greater experience and value than possible on paper.

And it remains to be seen if readers will find the richer offerings of such publications as Wired and The New Yorker worth more than, say, the flatter editions offered through Zinio at prices that match their print analogs. Some derisively call these “digital PDFs,” but easy-to-consume faithful reproductions of a print version may be all people want — and are willing to pay for.

Article by: John C. Abell

Tips, tools and traps to avoid

Your success with online video boils down to one thing–quality. But there’s a lot more to the quality of an online video than visual clarity. In fact, there are five crucial qualities when it comes to marketing with online video. Those five qualities are explained below, along with tips, tools and traps to avoid.

No. 1: Quality Planning
Online videos aren’t as easy to change as a section of text on a website’s landing page, so it’s a good idea to do some planning before you start rolling the camera. Start by determining your objective for the video and then plan the content to meet that objective. Here are some examples of marketing objectives and content you should consider including in your video for each.

Marketing Objective and Content to Include:
-  Brand recall – Your logo, emotional content, entertaining content
-  Advertisement – Your value proposition within the context of a story
-  Lead generation – An incentive combined with instructions for sharing contact information
-  Education – Product demonstrations, step-by-step instructions, product comparisons
-  Endorsement – Customers giving testimonials or professional paid endorsements
-  Immediate sale – The immediate benefits of your products or services and a call to action

Tip: Consider creating more than one version of your video.
It saves time and money to shoot three different introductions or endings to the same core video, and once you have multiple versions you can use them to test one version against another or to personalize your video for audiences with different interests.

Tool: A written script or outline
If you have a short video, writing out the content word-for-word gives you the ability to test the length and post the words as a transcript for search engines and people who would rather read your message. If your video is longer, use an outline instead of a word-for-word script.

Trap: Forgetting to plan for the context of your viewer
For example, if most of your audience will be viewing your video on a mobile device, you should consider the smaller screen, the location of your viewer and the features of the phone when planning your scenes and calls to action.

No. 2: Quality Production
The production quality of your video can really make or break your image. Production quality includes the visual and audio aspects of your video, as well as the quality of the spokesperson or actor, the story line and the believability of the entire presentation. Generally speaking, consumers expect serious businesses to adhere to high quality standards when it comes to video and audio presentations. They watch enough high-definition television to know the difference between a quality production and an inferior one.

While you could spend $1 million to produce a 30-second commercial with cameras, special effects, actors, locations and pre-production, you can produce a quality video with a much smaller investment. Most professional production companies can adjust their production services according to your budget by adding or removing services while keeping the quality of the video and audio high. LightGroup–the company that produced the video introduction to this article–is one of those flexible production companies.

If you’re the do-it-yourself type but you can’t afford to buy good equipment, or you lack the experience or technical skills to put together your own studio, search for a rental studio, public television station or freelance producer to help you out. (I did a quick search and found several professional studios for rent in my town for as little as $30 per hour.)

Tip: Consider the length of each message when recording.
The best online videos for marketing purposes are short, or “snackable.” If your message is long, plan on dividing it into a series of short two- to three-minute videos, or start with an introductory video selling the benefits of watching the entire longer version.

Tool: Video production software
If you want to produce your own videos, you’ll need the ability to record it, edit it and format it for different uses. Two options are Adobe Visual Communicator and Quicktime Pro.

Trap: Thinking that poor quality makes your video seem more personal
Don’t use a cheap web camera and far-away microphone to intentionally give your video a rough look unless you want your customers to think you’re begging for money.

No. 3: Quality Distribution
Putting a video on your own website is great for your website visitors, but if you stop there, you’re missing out on the huge distribution potential of online video. In fact, many people who prefer online video presentations only search on sites such as YouTube and Hulu because they think they contain the entire collection of online videos. Once you have a video ready to post online, make sure you post it on the following sites.

• Your own website
• Online video sites such as YouTube, Hulu and iTunes
• Your blog
• RSS feeds
• Social media sites

Tip: Buy search and display advertising on your distribution channels.
Many distribution channels, such as YouTube, allow you optimize video posts for search engines and even place ads near videos or in videos with related content. One of the benefits of advertising next to a video is the fact that the viewer of the video isn’t scrolling down the page while watching. That means your ad displays for a longer period of time than a typical page of text allows.

Tool: Syndication services
Posting your videos to every distribution channel can take a lot of time and effort. Using a syndicator allows you to distribute your video to many online video sites at once. TubeMogul.com has a free level of service that allows you to make up to 100 video deployments per month. Brightcove.com and ooyala.com include a variety of enterprise-level services if you’re a bigger and more serious video distributor.

Trap: Exchanging free distribution for bad advertising
Some distribution channels allow you to produce and post videos for free in exchange for allowing advertising to appear in your video. While there’s nothing wrong with that concept, some advertisements might be distracting at best and competitive with your video message at worst. Before you agree to allow ads in your video, make sure the ad content is compatible with the goals of your video.

No. 4: Quality Interactivity
Watching a video is a passive activity. If you want your viewers to take action, it’s best to make your videos interactive. Interactivity can be built into the post-production process, and many video players allow you to add interactive elements such as:

•Interactive links that display during key portions of the video
•Calls to action that appear as text overlays
•Clickable screens that allow the viewer to click on objects in the video
•Comment forms that pop up during the video
•Live chats that allow viewers to discuss the content

Tip: Use interactivity to collect information.
Providing interactivity in a video is much more useful to your business when you can use those engagements to collect contact information or analyze traffic patterns and viewing habits. Make sure your video player is capable of tracking interactions and views, and include links to signup forms and social media sites so viewers can join your e-mail list or follow your company.

Tool: Video players
Online videos should be hosted in a video player with the typical play button and other click-to-control elements. Some players allow you to add brand elements, interactivity, formatting and distribution. I like Viddler.com, which allows you to record and publish videos with viewer comments, share links, add content tags and use your own branding. I also like Veeple.com for its ability to make parts of the video screen clickable. If you’re into live broadcasting, check out Ustream.com.

Trap: Useless interactions
Interactivity can be a distraction if it interferes with your original goals. For every interaction you add to your videos, ask yourself if that interaction moves the viewer closer to a purchase decision. If not, don’t add it to your video.

No. 5: Quality Sharing
Video is highly shareable, but the value of sharing isn’t represented only by the number of views unless your only goal is brand recognition. If your goal is to generate leads or immediate purchases, don’t lose focus by trying to make your video “go viral.” Instead, focus your video content on getting people to share your lead generation campaign or immediate purchase incentive. For example, if your video promotes a sweepstakes to collect leads, your video should ask people to share the sweepstakes information, not the video.

Tip: Go mobile.
Video is one of the technologies helping to drive the adoption of more sophisticated mobile devices. Make sure to provide your videos in a format that can be viewed on mobile devices, and give your viewers the ability to download the video to their mobile devices either through a text message or a mobile site. Some sites, such as YouTube, automatically enable mobile sharing.

Tool: Video sharing links
Many distribution channels such as YouTube and video players such as Viddler.com make it easy for viewers to share your video with others on social networks, but you can also enable sharing by placing sharethis.com share links or RSS feeds on the website pages that contain your videos. To enable sharing via e-mail and mobile devices, you can provide a mobile link to your video or post the video to a mobile website and ask users to share the mobile version via SMS, MMS or mobile social media posts. Companies such as mogreet.com allow you to proactively send mobile videos to your customers via MMS messages and ensure that the videos are formatted to play on almost every mobile device.

Trap: Creating videos in only one format
There are a few standards in online video, but they are always threatened by new technology. For example, Flash is a great technology, but sadly, it’s not supported on many new mobile devices. Make sure your distribution channels have the ability to display your video in a variety of formats so it can play in a variety of browsers, mobile devices and desktop video players.
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By John Arnold | July 13, 2010
John Arnold’s no-nonsense marketing advice is featured in his well-known marketing books, which include Web Marketing All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies, E-Mail Marketing for Dummies and Mobile Marketing for Dummies. John is also a leading marketing speaker, trainer and consultant specializing in do-it-yourself marketing advice for small businesses, franchises and associations. If you have a marketing tool or technology you would like John to write about, contact him at http://JohnArnold.com.

Outsell, which provides research and advisory services to the publishing and information industries, described the spending shift as “an industry milestone crossover event.”

It said overall US spending on advertising and marketing will increase by 1.2 percent in 2010 to 368 billion dollars.

Outsell said 63 billion dollars, or 52.8 percent of total online advertising spending by companies, would be on their own websites, which it said constitutes a “powerful form of direct to customer marketing.”

“Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding,” Outsell vice president and lead analyst Chuck Richard said.

“As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they’re spreading their spending over a widening set of options,” he said.

By category, Outsell said spending on print newspaper advertising was expected to drop 8.2 percent to 27 billion dollars while print magazine advertising will rise 1.9 percent this year to 9.4 billion dollars.

US newspapers and magazines have been facing declining print advertising revenue, falling circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.

Outsell said that spending on direct mail marketing campaigns would rise 2.7 percent to 24.4 billion dollars and spending on custom print publications would be 3.0 percent higher at 19.3 billion dollars.

Spending on print directories would fall 8.3 percent to 11.6 billion dollars while spending on print newsletters would be flat at 11.4 billion dollars.

“2010 will not suddenly erase the painful memory of crumbling ad spending in 2009, but it will provide much closer to a flat year for several of the traditional media types,” Outsell said.

“This means that publishers with significant shares of traditional media in the mix and who pounded their expenses and debt into shape sufficient to survive the brutal 2009 should be able to carry on at those levels in 2010.”

Spending on television advertising was forecast to drop 6.5 percent to 59.6 billion dollars.

Outsell surveyed more than 1,000 US advertisers in December 2009 for its annual “Marketing and Advertising Study 2010.”

Brietbart: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.642d53c67e2bcaf6302164c0de9f8c70.3d1&show_article=1

By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — Ford Motor has high hopes for Fiesta, a popular model abroad launching in the U.S. next year.
So how does it introduce the subcompact car to Americans? A massive ad blitz on TV? In-house promotions at dealers nationwide?

Nope.

In April, Ford tapped 100 top bloggers and gave them a Fiesta for six months. The catch: Once a month, they’re required to upload a video on YouTube about the car, and they’re encouraged to talk — no holds barred — about the Fiesta on their blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

“It’s extremely important to this company’s history,” says Scott Monty, whose job as head of social media at Ford was created about a year ago to take advantage of the growing social-networking wave. “It’s about culture change and adapting to this ongoing way of communicating. The bloggers are fully free to say what they want.”

Social-media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless other websites, have had a profound effect on how millions of Americans — especially those under 35 — interact with others (or don’t), shop and view brands. It’s a real-time digital lifestyle, powered by smartphones and netbooks, that often colors what products they purchase, how they view brands and where they spend most of their waking hours.

Marketers have noticed. Social-networking services increasingly are indispensable business tools, says Forrester Research. According to its survey of 1,217 business decision makers worldwide late last year, 95% use social networks to some extent.

And 53% of more than 300 marketers planned to increase social-media marketing spending this year, according to a Forrester presentation in April.

For entire article:  Click here