Your customers & prospects are on the Internet!73% of Americans use the Internet

89% of 18 to 24 year olds Gaming and communicating with friends

80% to 89% of 25 to 49 year olds Information research and buying products

Generation X leads all age groups in product purchases online: 80%

71% to 78% of 50 to 59 year olds55% of 60 to 69 year olds45% of 70 to 75 year olds

74% of 64+ use e-mail vs. 73% of teens who use e-mail

Your most valuable customers are using search engines, researching products and services & using e-mail:

Social networks and blogsare now the 4th most popularonline activity

More popular than personal

e-mail

Member communities are visited by 67% of the global online population

They are also social networking:

The new rules of marketing:Traditional media = Interruption marketing

TV ads, direct mail, billboardsNew media = Reach interested customers at

the point of consumptionIf customers are looking and you aren’t there,

you miss out on sales opportunities

You are your web siteIt is the main source of customer and prospect

communication about your companyIt can tell compelling stories, educate, engage

customers in conversation and entertain themIt should provide detailed information and

resourcesIt defines your brand, corporate personality,

level of professionalism, credibility and expertiseIt drives sales, increases revenue and builds and

strengthens customer relationshipsYour web site can determine whether people want

to do business with you

Attributes of good web sitesWeb sites of the past are:

StaticOne size fits allBrochure style

Web sites of today should:Be built around customer and prospect needsProvide the information and messages your

customers want to hearEngage customers and create community

Good web sites start with the buyerWhat different audiences are coming to your site?

You probably provide different services to different geographies

Who are they and what are their problems?Create buyer personas and build your site around it

Angry Alltel customer looking for better local coverage and support?

Existing Baby Boomer customer with a thirst for technology? Rural customers who are fed up with dial-up? Blue collar families trying to cut costs? Businesses looking for a less expensive communication

solution? What are their motivations? What content will make them buy?

The benefits of using a blog platform for your web site designA blog platform is nothing more than a content

management system that allows you to add and change content easily without understanding code or web designBlog architecture has built in tools and

functionality, which are perfect for small businessesThere are 4 main blogging platforms:

**Wordpress** Blogger Typepad Moveable Type

You can apply one of thousands of pre-made template designs and you’re ready to go

Two examples of stock blog layouts:

Fidelity Communications web site:

MTC’s web site:

Flexibility: You can change the layout without changing the content You can add and change the design, content and pages at will

Easily embed video, and audio Easily embed other RSS feeds Can include and rotate ads

They encourage social networking Comments allowed after every post “Share this” buttons allow people to e-mail or submit to Digg,

Delicious, etc. Can embed your Twitter feed and a link to your Facebook page

Benefits of blog sites (i.e. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways)

Benefits of blog sites, cont.They encourage customer contact and create relationships

You can easily include surveys & polls www.SurveyMonkey.com www.Twiigs.com

Customers and prospects

can get web site updates via

RSS or e-mail There are hundreds of contact

formsThey help you get to the top of search engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is built into the codeThey are measurable

Google analytics can show you how your site is being used You can see how people are getting to your site and what they are searching

for

Google analytics: the greatest web invention ever created

Don’t forget your URL…Your web address is very important

It should make sense for ALL customers and prospects

www.LRMutual.com to www.MTC4Me.com

It should support your brandIt should be easy to remember

Factor in “guess and go” if possibleIt should look good writtenIt should be shortUse .com if at all possible

What is SEO and how does it work?Search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, AOL

and Ask have “spiders” that crawl web sites for content so when people search for things, they get relevant information about exactly what they’re looking for They search your domain name and

description, the content of your site, keywords and meta tags and title tags

If you don’t have the words people are searching for on your web site, they won’t find you!

Why should you care about SEO?Prospects are searching for your stuff!

Cellular service, wireless broadband, conference calling, back-up and recovery services, security systems, phone systems You can help customers who aren’t taking all your

services find you You can help new customers moving into your area

find you You can help customers outside your traditional

service area find you

Search engine results are all about contentThink like your customers and prospects

What terms are they searching for? No acronyms like IPTV, FTTH, broadband

Write for your audience not for you Example of content that will not get indexed in search engines (or

mean anything to a prospective customer):

X has a proven methodology to connect People, Process and Technology to help your organization realize the true benefits of Unified Communications.  The answer is never a single product but rather the seamless integration of existing and new capabilities.  Our processes will help you navigate from proof of concept to design to deployment to support of your strategies. 

Unified messaging solutions SIP based integrations Presence enabled business processes and workflow

Don’t leave the job of content generation to your web developer!

8 key tips to get to the top of search engines1. Make sure your title and description include good key words and your location(s)

This is what shows up in Google:

2. Create “Meta key words” and make sure they are in your source code

10 to 15 words or phrases Right click on your web site and click “source

code” and then scan for “<meta keywords= to see what you have

Wordtracker.com is a good keyword suggestion tool

Wordpress’s SEO plugin:

3. Your title tag is important This is what shows up in the blue bar of each page

Use good search terms and your location on every page

4. Sprinkle key words throughout your site

Words that people are searching for. Think like a stranger who is searching for your company’s info

5. Update and add content often Blogs provide more content and updated content Search engines love sites with updated content

6. Use links to other sites, and get other sites to link to you The more popular the linking site, the more popular you are Go to www.linkpopularity.com

7. Create a “Google compliant” site map Wordpress can do this automatically

8. Submit your URL to all the major search engines www.google.com/addurl http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx

Search Engine Marketing (Paid ads)Shows your ad when someone searches for your key words

The narrower your key words the more likely you’ll get a truly interested lead Phone systems vs. Business phone systems Point Clear

Alabama

How do Google ads work?

Google ad tipsType in your key words, see which ads come

up, and then write a better adLanding pages are CRUCIAL

Send interested prospects directly to the right content

Get a book like AdWords for Dummies before you get started

Go to: Google AdWords: www.adwords.google.com Yahoo:

http://sem.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/searchenginemarketing/

Local search visibility is KEY In 2008 online local search overtook other sources used

by consumers to final local businesses including yellow pages, directory assistance and newspapersIf you aren’t listed, you won’t be found:

Local search visibility, cont.You must be listed in both online directories and the local

results of search engines You can include coupons, store hours, pictures and videoThere are companies that will submit to directories and

search engines for you, or you can do it yourself: Yahoo local Google maps Google local MapQuest Anywho Switchboard Yellow book Dex MSN local Super pages Ask.com

E-newsletters and e-campaignsGreat customer contact opportunity IF YOU

PROVIDE VALUABLE CONTENTE-newsletters provide value and have high

readership Can track campaigns easily

Many great online resources like: www.aweber.com, www.constantcontact.com www. mailchimp.com

How to create an e-newsletter or campaign

Gather customer info through a form on your site Can customize for as many fields as you want Database can also sync to your internal database

Can send targeted and segmented campaigns Can format to send automated messages

For example: birthday, when they sign-up, monthly

Easy to design templates Used by Staples, Firefox, American Airlines and Canon

Can send out a regular campaign, AB split campaign or RSS updates Can easily save templates

Can measure and analyze campaigns and even combine with Google Analytics

Can automatically post a link to Twitter, Facebook, Digg or wherever you want pointing people to the campaign

Up to 500 contacts and 3,000 e-mails per month FREE

Social networkingSo everybody’s not into Facebook…

“I’d rather have a rectal examination on live TV by a fellow with cold hands than have a Facebook page.”

- George Clooney

“Me too.”- My boyfriend Bob

But it can be good for businessFacebook is a social networking site where users add

“friends” and then update their pictures, profiles and information, which their “friends” see

Businesses either create a page and get “fans” or add a Facebook “group” Having a Facebook page makes your business approachable and

friendly and encourages communication You invite fans , your fan’s “friends” see that they are a fan, and it

spreads from there Anything you post on your page shows up on your friends’ page

What can you do with a business Facebook page?You can post updates with links to pages or posts on your

web siteYou can phototag picturesOffer customers a newsletter subscription to your e-newsletterOffer special “Facebook only” offersAdd slideshows and pictures from eventsEmbed product demos or podcastsReceive informal feedback from customers

Horry Telephone has over 500 fans on their Facebook page!

Target market with Facebook adsFacebook ads are like Google Ads

You can place an ad by location, gender, key words, job title, college or age

Pay per click, so it’s easy to measure ROI resultsYou can direct people from your ad to your

Facebook page, or anywhere else (like your web site) Idea: College wireless sales

Facebook ads are socially networked: Your ad will show up on someone’s page, and will show which of their “friends” are fans

Twitter for businessTwitter is a microblog

Users post information in 140 characters or less Can include pictures, links, exclusive coupons and offers Once a tweet is out there, you can’t edit it

You find people and monitor what they are doing and they monitor what you are doing You can also monitor trends, key words, etc.

You can “tweet” from a cell phone, IM, etc. Can respond directly to people: @missypo I liked your

presentation! Re-tweet interesting things: RT@Username:

ORIGNAL MESSAGE Can see who’s tweeting in your community: location:

City name

6 great business Twitter ideas1. You can use Twitter to track what people are saying about

your company Go to www.search.twitter.com

There isn’t a “Cox Cable” but there’s a “CoxCableSucks” Case study: Dooce and Maytag

2. Put your Twitter feed on your web site to provide instant updates

3. Twitter live from local events4. Offer exclusive coupons and discounts5. Include links to drive traffic to your site

Free car charger with activation today at our Sterling ,KS store. Go to www.MTC4Me.com Use www.tinyURL.com to shorten links

6. Can use as a company intranet: Example: D missypo Customer John Smith is having trouble

with his Internet, can you check it out?

WTC Communications has 62 followers!

PodcastingPodcasting is just audio attached to an RSS feedIt’s easy and inexpensive to get started

Microphones cost as little as $20You need software that records and edits

Epodcast creator Propaganda

You publish to a host and tag it so people can find it Includes an interface so you can distribute it

www.libsyn.com is a good host $5 a month to start

People can play it on your site, or download to their computer or an ipod

You can easily create a show or, better yet, a series that speaks to your audience

WTC’s “NetHeads” podcastWTC Communications, Wamego, KS

Created “NetHeads “podcastsNot a true podcast, because no RSS feedPosts it on their web site and Facebook page

Creates customer relationships and builds trust Engages customers and brings them back

Makes WTC accessible and friendly

VideoLocal content doesn’t have to be difficult or

professionally done and you can use inexpensive equipmentIn-house shooting give it an authentic feel

i.e. Fred and momversation.comCover things your customers are interested in:

How to program your remote control 5 things you can do with your BlackBerry Heck, just take a video camera and go around the company!

Local content like High School Football games bring people to your site

Upload video YouTube or Vimeo and embed on web site, Facebook page or even link to it in Twitter

HTC’s “Media Minute”

Wrap-upWeb marketing is important because:

It reaches interested prospects It’s extremely cost-effective and measurableIt’s easily changeable It’s immediate

HOWEVER….You can’t do it all

Pick and choose what works best for your companyDon’t forget--it takes time to build momentum

DO focus most of your time and effort on having a great web site and promote it wherever you can

Thank you!Slides are posted at

www.TelecomMarketingBuzz.com

(see how I just promoted my web site there?)