How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Ecommerce Business

Today I had the pleasure of speaking at the S. Florida's WECAI.org (Women in Ecommerce Association) kick-off event at the Tower Club in Fort Lauderdale. A roomful of woman (and a few good men who wiggled their way in!) learned what social media is - and is not, why they should care about social media, especially during this holiday shopping season, how to get started in social media and how to measure their social media efforts.

It was a great event and I'm honored to have been their first speaker. Here is a link to the presentation:

How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Ecommerce Business

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As a reminder, iClarity is your outsourced interactive marketing department from your VP of interactive down to your tactical implementers of strategy covering all facets of interactive marketing including but not limited to:

• Web site usability
• Copy writing
• Email strategy and implementation
• Search engine optimization
• Search engine marketing
• Social media marketing
• Interactive media planning and buying
• And more!
  

SFIMA's Nov 12th event is at Jungle Isle in Miami on Ecommerce Optimization with MarketingExperiments. Register: http://bit.ly/4hxrg5

Register now to see me speak at the Women in Ecommerce kick off event at the Tower Club on Thurs, 10/29. http://ping.fm/JQQGU

Convinced there is a gremlin in my computer. Wiping out files, blowing away programs, defragged and still dragging....time to hit the hay...

Hear me live today on the Internet Marketing Radio Show at noon eastern. http://www.imrshow.com

Re-post from Michael Grimme: “The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable, to harmonize with existing or changing conditions.”

Working on content for a "green" company....very cool stuff. Can't wait to see the site launch and give you all a peek.

SFIMA now selling individual tickets for our famous Nautical Networking Event. Limited Seats! Great deal! http://ping.fm/GeqdS

I have a client seeking mid-level webmaster in S. FL. Coding & graphics exp. required. Contact me for more info. maria@iclarityonline.com

Google announces new display ad network:
http://ping.fm/mm4t4

Register SFIMA Thurs. @ W Hotel. AOL, Yahoo, Fox Audience Network & Kontera on ad networks http://ping.fm/01BfV

Evaluating DIY affiliate program software for several clients. Does anyone have any recos? Any specific feedback on www.shareresults.com?

How to develop a following on Twitter using display ads: http://ping.fm/fH33F Open access til 7/1/09

RT: The top 25 CEOs in the US: http://om.ly/?hDf

A Video About the Death of Traditional Advertising and the Growth of Digital: http://ping.fm/xT2Qi

Interactive Metrics, What You Really Need to Know

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was asked to present to the Florida Direct Marketing Association last week about interactive metrics. This presentation breaks down what you really need to be focused on to be making good decisions for your interactive marketing and business at large.

For your download:

Interactive Metrics, What You Really Need to Know

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Maria Harrison, iClarity Owner, to Present at FDMA, 6/18

THE SECOND HALF - Meet or beat your year-end estimates and look like a superstar!

While it feels like 2009 has only started, we’re actually halfway through the year. At this point the FDMA asks you:

• Are you on track to meet or beat your forecasts?
• What can you do to drive in more sales?
• What programs both online and offline can you test, and test quickly to increase sales?
• Are you drowning in a sea of online numbers and are not sure which are the most meaningful to track?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, this is the one FDMA session you do not want to miss. We have two great presentations lined up for you.

Presentation 1 – Leave NO Stone unturned - 50 tips, tricks and ideas you can take to the bank. (12:30 - 1:30pm)

Presented by Jim Gilbert, Author, Direct Marketing Professor and Consultant.

In this presentation, Jim Gilbert will leverage his 20+ years experience in teaching direct marketing companies how to increase sales - by providing you with marketing program ideas that are simple and quick to execute.

Jim’s presentation will address consumer and B2B, online and offline, lead gen and direct sales strategies and tactics - in short - marketing programs you may have missed. He will engage you in “operation turned stone”, an opening for you to look for breakthrough opportunities in your company to “find” missing revenue.

You are guaranteed to takeaway between 5 and 10 action items to beat your forecasts with.

Presentation 2 – Interactive Metrics - What You Really Need to Know (1:30 - 2:15pm)

Presented by Maria Harrison President/Owner of iClarity.

In this informative presentation, Maria Harrison will take you through the good, the bad and the ugly of interactive metrics. Interactive marketing is a double-edged sword when it comes to metrics.

Just because everything can be counted, doesn’t mean it’s important in making business decisions that will help you have a positive impact on your interactive marketing initiatives.

Ms. Harrison will show you how simplistic interactive metrics can really be, how to set benchmarks, and develop meaningful executive dashboards that will help you make the right decisions to improve your interactive marketing efforts. She will define some basic interactive metric terms and teach you how to immediately apply those metrics to your business.

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 pm Registration Check-in and Networking
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm Annoucements, Lunch, Netowrkign at Table
12:30 pm Presentation by Jim Gilbert
1:30 pm Presentation by Maria Harrison
2:15 pm Prgram ends.

Register early to avoid additional $10 walk-up fee.

Visit www.fdma.org to register now!

FREE Webcast Thursday, Save the Date!

On Thursday you can hear myself and fellow interactive marketing gurus chat it up about the next big thing in internet marketing. The event is 100% FREE, but webinar access is limited!

For more info visit: http://tinyurl.com/ThoughtLeadersForum

The internet has become the essential hub for all business and personal communications. Join Internet Marketing Experts Jay Berkowitz, Maria Harrison, Mitch Joel, Jim Kukral, Joe Laratro, Mari Smith and Richard Stanton, to find out what is coming next in marketing online.

* Why is there so much buzz about Twitter and how can I make it work for me?
* What are top strategies for marketing your business online?
* How to use social media websites for business?
* What is the future for Google and search marketing?
* What are the best approaches to market your personal brand?



Title: Thought Leaders Forum - What's Next in Internet Marketing

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009

Time: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM EDT

REGISTER NOW! http://tinyurl.com/ThoughtLeadersForum

Enhancing Nonprofits Presence on the Web

My preso is currently being featured on the SlideShare How to DIY page! Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/d95p8z

Enhancing Nonprofits Presence on the Web

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How Your Web Presence Can Increase the Bottom Line

On Tuesday, I had the honor of speaking to the Broward County Cultural Division and many businesses and arts and cultures nonprofits in Broward.While this presentation covered many of the topics I hit in the FDMA presentation, it has an expanded section on how to leverage social media as well as Google and YouTube.

Many thanks to all who attended.

You can download a copy of the preso here:
How Your Web Presence Can Increase the Bottom Line

Google for Nonprofits

I was invited to speak at the FDMA/FANO nonprofit Summit held yesterday, 3/19, in Fort Lauderdale, FL. A room of over 100 attendees learned about all the ways they can leverage Google for free. If you were in attendance, thank you for coming. If you couldn't make it, here is the deck I presented. The highlights are, as put by my fellow presenter, Joe Laratro, (paraphrasing) "Google must have a guilty conscious because they give away a lot for free!"

They give away:

• the ability to build your own site, for free with Google Site
• free access/use of Google Earth to invite your donors and volunteers to engage more personally with your charity or brand
• Google Grants will give you up to $10,000 per month to spend on Google AdWords (up to $40,000 if you exhaust that grant every month)
• Google Docs to be your document management system possibly saving you the hassle of a costly intranet build out

And the presentation also covers how nonprofits can leverage YouTube and a bonus slide about Yahoo!

Enjoy!

Download presentation here:
Google for Nonprofits

Leveraging the Web in a Down Economy

In a down economy, whether you’re a non-profit or for-profit organization, there are some things you can do to harness the power of the web without going broke. During these tough times, remember that interactive marketing is measurable, effective, and is inexpensive relative to other forms of media and has a lower barrier to entry. It will take careful planning and monitoring of your investments but if done correctly, these tactics could prove very fruitful.

Here are 5 areas to focus your marketing during these tough economic times that could have you saying “bad economy, what are you talking about?” in no time!

1. First and foremost, get back to fundamentals. Look at what has traditionally worked for your business on the web and shore up those programs. For example, if database marketing has been a mainstay of your marketing program, bolster it with stronger messaging, meatier content and offers, and test new mailing schedules to small segments of your database to see where you might be able to drive incremental revenue.

2. Keep your message on target. Remember that it’s not about the technology; it’s about the people. The technology is just a means to an end of communicating with people. You probably don’t need a new app or widget to be successful on the web. Take a step back and ask yourself what your message is and how you can maximize its delivery via the web. Consider how it ties into your overall marketing strategy and how it will help you achieve your short-term and long-term goals.

3. Learn how to harness the power of new interactive channels such as social media. Social media is a relatively inexpensive way to reach out to customers and stay in contact with them, without many of the worries of maintaining a strong email database. Don’t forgo your email marketing, but consider that while email addresses change, people lose jobs and you can’t reach them at their former email address and the like; social networks provide a way for you to talk to them, regardless.

4. Are you taking donations online or selling products online? Focus on the donation/shop and buy areas of your site. Your donation/sales funnel may seem like it should be a “set it and forget it” portion of your site but quite the opposite is true. Utilize your web metrics tools to better understand where people are falling off in the process and see how you can keep them engaged through checkout and implement a recontact strategy for those who bail before completion.

5. The opportunity for non-profits and for-profit organizations to partner has never been greater! It drives consumer behavior. The SALT group released its "Trends in Branding 2009" report recently and said that when consumers are "faced with two branded options, the one that offers them the opportunity to support their community or a good cause will increasingly win." Companies singled out by SALT include Target, with its "Do 5% Good" campaign, eBay's World of Good, and Project RED, which has partnered together with such brands as Apple, American Express, Starbucks, Gap, Microsoft and Hallmark.

Selling it all to your boss a challenge? Take a stand for what you believe is right for your company to do but then support that with hard facts. Look to possible internal and external benchmarks for data to support your ideas.

Note: I will be speaking at the FDMA event on Thursday, March 19th. The event will be the Non-Profit Marketing Mini Summit and I will be presenting with Joe Laratro, President and Owner of Tandem Interactive . We will cover web marketing for non-profits including how to use Google and YouTube. Details here at the FDMA site .

Deer in Headlights: How do the Twitterverse, Facebook, and MySpace Fit into My Corporate Interactive Marketing Strategy

Last night I attended the SFIMA monthly educational meeting held here in Ft. Lauderdale at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas. It was the organization's first ever open forum, peer-to-peer event where attendees were able to ask questions of the board and other subject matter experts around the room. While unsure whether this format would be a success, it was well-received and undoubtedly the biggest issue on everyone's mind was social media.

Business owners, marketing VPs, directors, and managers all looked like deer in headlights as questions about Twitter, Tweeting, Facebook and MySpace advertising and more were discussed at length. Summarizing and paraphrasing, it seemed that the biggest concerns raised were:

1. What is social media?
2. What is Twitter?
   
3. What is Twitter etiquette?
   
4. How can I use Facebook for business?
   
5. What networks should I be on?

Everyone seemed to be looking for that one simple answer to the question: what can social media do for me and how can it be done?

Just like search, print, TV or any other marketing channel, your social media marketing plan should tie back to your overall corporate strategies. For example, if your goal is lead generation, you will have a very different social media markeitng plan than if your goal is one of brand extension.

Someone raised the example of how Dell computers is using Twitter. Last year they sold over $1 million worth of refurbished machines via Twitter. They have a Twitter account with a very specific goal and message of selling refurbished machines. The Green Peace charity has the goal of raising awareness of their organization and increasing donations. These messaging strategies are very different.

Start by asking yourself, what do you want social media to do for you? Why do you want to engage in social media marketing activities? If you can't answer those 2 questions for your business, you shouldn't be in social media.

Once you answer those questions, your strategy should naturally shake out from there. And I offered this advice last night: creating your social media strategy, planning and initial implementaiton should take time. There should be careful consideration to which social media vehicles are right for your business, what your messaging should be like, the frequency of messaging, how to acquire a following/friend base, etc. But once that detailed strategy, planning and implementation are done, the ongoing maintenance of your social media marketing plan should be fairly simple. Literally, if it is taking you more than 5 hours per week, you've done something wrong and you need to regroup.