If you watch a lot of sports, you’ll notice something interesting: the very best athletes and performers in any field or event are always statistically superior to their counterparts, but it’s rarely just the numbers that separate them. In other words, they have certain intangible qualities that set them apart – the percentages just help explain them.

So why does this matter to social media marketing?

Because finding success – the kind that means more than just the odd sale here and there – sometimes requires more than just hitting the basics. Like athletes, smart business owners can’t just stop with doing things “by the book.” Following the same advice and tips as everyone else is a great way to catch up and blend in… not get ahead.

So, as you ponder changes to your social media profiles and other tools, ask yourself this question? Ask this: what makes any of them special? What are you doing differently than the rest of the crowd?

There are a lot of answers that work: you can be funnier, bolder, lower-priced, focused, easier to find, or just better-looking than your competitors, to name a few, but you had better be doing something differently. If not, you are “just another company,” or “just another vendor,” and that’s not nearly good enough to win the lion’s share of the business that’s out there.

No one buys a ticket to a sporting event to see the guys on the bench; everyone wants to see the winners in action. It’s the same way with your social media marketing plan. If you aren’t doing something special – something that makes you stand out – customers are eventually going to buy from someone who is.

At Marcy Design, we can help you turn your social media profiles into something that separates you from the competition. Get in touch with us today to find out how easy it is to improve the results you’re getting from Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

It’s been said for a long time that there’s no better advertising for your web design than good word-of-mouth. After all, people might not believe what you say about yourself, but if it’s coming from another satisfied client – and especially someone they know – then a good word is worth its weight in gold.
But now, there’s something even better: Social Media.

To be fair, we’re really talking about a newer version of the same thing; what makes social media such a great tool is the potential for better and faster word-of-mouth. That’s not a small difference, however. It used to be that if someone had a great experience with your company, they had to take the time to write a letter, remember to tell another person, or have it come up in conversation, if it was going to do you any good at all.

Now, with the explosion of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites such as Auttr.com, referrals and recommendations are hardly ever more than a mouse click away. Or even less, if your customers are using mobile devices to connect with each other online.

To have your reputation for great service and prices spread like wildfire, you still have to provide great service and prices. But, for those companies and self-employed professionals who can step up and go the extra mile, social media has virtually removed the limits of how far, and how quickly, the good things your customers are saying can take you.

Is your auto dealership leveraging the power of social media as effectively as it could be? If not, utilize Auttr.com today; we have the tools and knowledge to take your social networking plan to the next level.

At Marcy Design are occasionally asked whether we think there are any “rules” to the relatively new game of social media marketing and website design. While it’s just coming into vogue, and constantly changing and evolving, there are two that always come to mind. The first is that every company and marketer needs to give social media a try. You can’t win, as they say, if you don’t play, and that’s definitely true on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites. And Auttr is fast becoming the social network of choice for auto dealers.

The second rule? Share early and often.

By sharing, we mean that you need to be a constant source of content. Whether it’s news, press releases, or especially blog posts and articles, it’s important that you don’t keep your ideas to yourself. Writing, video, and audio clips all help you build a strong and healthy social media profile – not to mention a steady list of clients, friends, and interested prospective customers.

Why is your content so important? For one thing, it makes it easier for people to find you. So long as you’re keeping your posts, updates, and articles focused on different aspects of your industry, or topics that matter to your customers, they are going to feature a lot of the keywords and key phrases that you are likely to be concentrating on for your search engine optimization campaign. That’s important, because Google, Yahoo, and Bing are all beginning to emphasize social media content more heavily, so a steady stream of updates could help you climb to the top of the search engine listings.

The more immediate, and important, reason is that the more content you add, the more there is for your colleagues and clients to look at, or even pass along. An interesting piece of industry news, advance notice of a new product with special pricing, or some exclusive advice from a professional is almost always bound to catch someone’s eye. If that person happens to be someone who already buys from you, then they will be more likely to keep doing so in the future; if they’re currently working with someone else, you might make them wonder if it’s time to look at making a change.

Of course, for any of this to work, you don’t just need content… you need quality content. The old tactic of “article marketing” with chunks of copy that read like infomercial scripts no longer carries much weight. Online readers and customers are far more savvy – and a lot less patient – than they have ever been before. To catch and hold their attention, you need to come up with ideas that are different, interesting, and that matter to them.

Remember that as you craft material to add to your social media accounts and profiles; a video or piece of writing is only interesting in a way that matters if it answers some question your customers have.

Wish you had some professional-grade help putting together your content, updating your social media profiles, or turning your online marketing efforts into more bottom line results? At Marcy Design, we’ve helped dozens of businesses just like yours, so contact us today to see what we can do for you.

As hot topics go, it’s hard to beat social media, website design and networking. Just as search engines hit a “critical mass” several years ago when they became the stepping stones to the rest of the web, sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Auttr are now many people’s first and most frequent stops when they go online.

That’s a tidal wave that’s hundreds of millions of users strong. Given that nearly everyone you know, from your family members to your best clients, is using social media, it’s offering businesses and professionals an unprecedented opportunity to make important connections.

Unfortunately, many companies are missing out.

That’s because, even though they see the value in using social network marketing, they aren’t using these sites like marketers. In other words, they’re approaching their relationships and communications with customers and potential customers they same way they do the people they know in their personal lives. Or, worse yet, they’re not employing any strategy at all.

Here are five tips for using social media to find new business:

Follow your business plan. Whatever your normal, everyday strategy for gaining buyers is, make sure your social media efforts mirror that. If you need to drive customers to a retail store, use posts and updates to invite people in; if you compete by offering better service than your competitors, be sure to highlight that service in your profile. The point is to use social media to highlight your competitive strengths, just as you would in any other marketing environment.

Be in business. As we mentioned, it’s easy for business owners and professionals to fall into the trap of being overly “social.” There’s nothing wrong with showing off your personality or sense of humor, but try to let your customers, and potential customers, see you as a vendor, not someone who is overly goofy.

Treat social media like an online networking event. Just as in the offline world, the key to making the right connections is in showing up ready to meet people, being interested in others, and being polite. Introduce yourself to as many people as possible, and pay attention to those who want to meet you – you never know how close you might be to a big account.

Post and update frequently. It’s pretty easy to tell the people who are really interested in social media, and the ones who want to do the bare minimum to show they’re in business. Stay involved with your social media profiles, updates and messages. Have a little bit of fun with them. The more frequently you stay go online and stay involved, the easier it’s going to be for colleagues and potential clients to find you.

Link back to your site and dealership. Remember, your social media profiles don’t have to exist, and work, all on their own. Make it easier for people to click through to your website, or even visit your retail store – you’ll have an easier time forging a business relationship once your contacts have had a chance to see you the way your current customers do.

Need help advancing – or creating – your social media marketing plan? Find out how Auttr.com can help.

I’ve been letting our customers know for some time how important Mobile Technology and Social Media are to their website design and online marketing efforts. Below is an article from Inc. that offers great statistics that should open your eyes about your efforts as well. It’s time for you to take full advantage of the potential of Auttr.com and your online marketing.

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I’m picturing a big venn diagram in my head as I write this. One circle is the mobile web and the other is the social web. The overlap seems to be getting bigger by the day with the outer parts of the circles getting smaller. Case in point; Facebook!

Facebook announced some new mobile features this week (for example one step sign-in). However buried in the fine print they let it drop that out of the 500 million Facebook users, 200 million are now actively accessing through mobile devices. 200 million is triple the number from just a year ago.

If you were to graph this, the trajectory of this trend would look like a hockey stick.

Throw in location based services like Facebook’s new “Places” feature (their answer to Foursquare) into the mix and you can expect this to be a very long-handled hockey stick.

Read the rest of this entry →

Recently, a new client asked an interesting question; for all the talk about search engine optimization (SEO), what makes it such an important part of a new web design?

Rather than go on and on about online profitability, increases in visits to their company’s pages, greater competitiveness, and other details, we decided to take a different track and answer his question with a question – why does it matter where a restaurant is located?

For most business owners, the answer is pretty obvious; because if you’re too far out of the way, no one is coming to eat. Yes, you need good food, a friendly staff, and to have a menu that seems like a good value, but those things only matter if there are people coming through the front door. Even the best eatery is going to go out of business if you have to drive hours from town through winding, unmarked roads to find it. Read the rest of this entry →

Here is a great article from Website Magazine regarding website design and how to review customer information.

Understanding customer behavior — truly understanding it — has never been more important for businesses and their marketing teams than it is today.

The economic downturn has forced companies to use their resources more efficiently and become much more targeted and timely with their efforts to connect with customers. Adding to the challenge, customers have become even more discerning about how and where they spend their time and money.

To create positive and meaningful connections with customers and earn their repeat business, today’s businesses need deep insight into customer attitudes. To gain this knowledge, leading organizations are harnessing the power of the Web and turning their websites into customer intelligence tools. This critical transformation involves the following phased approach:

Creating different types of Web experiences: This means keeping your website fresh and engaging at all times, by experimenting with Web page designs, product offers and descriptions, dynamic features, and content order and flow. In short, give people a reason to visit your site, stay and explore, act on something (make a purchase, register for your site, or engage in your community) and then come back again later to see what’s new.

Read the rest of this entry →

For most companies, periodic reviews are a must, when it comes to keeping things on track and moving projects forward. While larger companies might rely on formal meetings and audits, smaller businesses and self-employed professionals typically keep things lower key, preferring to review the books, and future plans, with a cup of coffee or during a long weekend.

Regardless of how you and your company look things over, however, there are likely to be ongoing changes. It might be that your marketing plan isn’t yielding the results you’d hoped, or that you’re ready to roll out some new products. How do you know what kind of changes you should make to your website?

Contrary to what you might expect, we are not going to advise you to redesign your home page every time you decide to try something new. Much as we would love to have the work, there are times when big changes just aren’t warranted. What we will advise you, though, is to remember that in many ways your website is the most important part of your business… and certainly your most prominent marketing piece.

That means that any time your business plan gets a big overhaul, some parts of your company’s website design probably should, too. Here are a few things to keep in mind: Read the rest of this entry →

When was the last time you heard anyone say they wanted to buy anything?

Unless you have a spouse or child that really likes to shop, it probably wasn’t that recently. Few of us look forward to spending money, and even fewer enjoy the process of finding and selecting the right product or service. We live in a world where not only everything just seems too expensive, but where it’s increasingly difficult to find the exact product or service we’re looking for. There are lots of choices, but very few real answers.

Believe it or not, this isn’t just a problem for buyers.

As online marketers, we feel the same pinch, indirectly. The folks who visit our sites, whether they’re doing so for personal or professional reasons, aren’t in a mood to be sold anything. Instead, they’re online because they have a problem that needs to be solved, and usually they don’t know where to look.

You have probably experienced this sensation – and frustration – many times yourself. The only way it ends is when you either give up, or finally locate the resource you were looking for online. So, as someone who wants to see their company’s sales grow, what should you make of this insight?

The answer is clear: don’t set up your site to sell anything; instead, let it solve your customers’ problems. This is a subtle, but important shift in philosophy. Instead of writing overbearing sales copy, for example, post articles and product descriptions that help people make the best choices. Rather than leading them to an endless line of “buy now” buttons, offer video tutorials and product guides.

The best websites make a lot of money, but not usually because they are only focused on moving products and collecting credit card numbers… it’s because they help people find the answers they need. And website design plays an important role. If that sounds like an element that might be missing from your webpages, contact Marcy Design today to see how we can help.

When most auto dealers look at a new web design, or decide to upgrade what they have, their thoughts turn to flashy photos, stylish fonts, and quality content management systems. Those are good ideas, since they’ll help you sell autos, but there are other things that factor in to the effectiveness of your dealership’s site, too.

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.