Whether you’re in traditional or online retail, now is the time to plan out your advertising campaign for the holiday season. Find It Local 411 is here to help craft a marketing campaign which will help your customers (and you) have a the best holiday season yet. Here are a few tips for putting the shine on your marketing this year:

1. Use text messaging promotions. Include in your television, radio, and internet advertising a code to text for special deals in-store (or online). This can be especially effective leading up to Black Friday, when customers are already out shopping, and eager to get the best deals possible.

2. Emphasize the gift-worthiness of your product. Whether you’re selling shoes or life insurance, this is the season of giving, and that sentiment appeals to customers. If your product isn’t something that is traditionally given as a gift, your messaging could still be gift-focused. Get creative (we’re here to help with that). You could even craft a gift basket or gift wrapping ideas for your products. There are a lot of possibilities to explore, don’t rule anything out without thinking it through!

3. Be proactive. Customers are out there looking, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll find you and your products without some help! After all, there are a lot of competitors for their attention at this time of year, and they want to spend as little time looking for and purchasing the perfect gift as possible. Talk to Find It Local 411 about the best way to market your particular product. We know we can help.

When you’re using a business social media account, it’s important to not abuse the relationship you’re trying to cultivate with your customers. If your posts aren’t reaching customers where they’re willing to listen, then they may start blocking you altogether, and you’ve lost that opportunity. Here are a few tips for how to keep your customers attention (and make the most of it) on facebook and twitter.

1. Be yourself. If you’re using a business name (e.g. @Finditlocal411), and speaking on behalf of your business, it can be easy to slide into marketing speak, and while you are indeed marketing and networking when you use social media, it’s important that you don’t speak in such a way as to alienate your audience by making them feel like they’re just viewing pop-up ads in their feed. Have fun. You don’t need to tell your audience what you’ve just eaten for lunch, but be sure to breathe some of your own personality into what you say. If people sense that the enthusiasm in your posts isn’t genuine, they’ll lose interest in you. Let your enthusiasm for your business and what you’re doing shine though.

2. Think like your readers. Ask yourself what someone who subscribes to your business’ feed might want to know from you. It can definitely be worth mentioning that you’ve just hired a new employee, or attended an exciting local event, but primarily people want to know about your products and services. If you’re in retail, it can be a nice way to gain customer loyalty to include a coupon code for your online subscribers periodically, that they can use when visiting your site or store.

3. Don’t be too personal. This may sound contradictory to #1, but it’s worth mentioning that you’re still using your feed to have a professional interaction with your customers and partners. Online interactions aren’t the place to discuss a personal tragedy, a surgery you’ve undergone, or anything which might make a perfect stranger uncomfortable to read.

4. Reach out. If you’re happy to be partnering with another firm, or if a supplier has really come through for you, or even if your staff just loves to patronize a local coffee shop, go ahead and use those as opportunities for outreach. Not only is it an important way to build relationships with your affiliates, showing your willingness to reach out like that is good for your business, because down the road, the businesses who benefit from your referrals are very likely to return the favor.

When you’re ready to dive into this important field of interaction with your customers, FindItLocal411 is there to help you, through our full suite of online marketing services. We’ll always take the time to find out who you are, and incorporate your personality and identity into everything we do, from newsletters to mobile marketing to visual customization of your Facebook and Twitter pages.

Marketing directly to your customers via mobile marketing might once have seemed cutting-edge or even gimmicky, and outside of the bounds of what would be reasonable for your business, but that time is long gone. Now, people are using their mobile phones for so many things that not having the ability to reach them through mobile messaging might as well mean not being able to reach them at all.

It Works

Snail mail often goes to the trash unopened, and emails can sit in the inbox waiting for days or even weeks for someone to get around to reading them, but 97% of text messages are opened and read. With the right call-to-action, this could be your most powerful tool for connecting with customers. Mobile marketing is also highly effective for customer surveys and voting, which can be a fun way to get customers to sign up for more updates, as well as a truly indispensable way to get feedback from them about what’s working and not working about your services.

It’s Personal

Mobile marketing is only a part of the full suite of services you get with Find it Local 411. From print advertising to your web site to email newsletters, these can all be integrated with an expertly-crafted mobile marketing campaign. As with all of our services, we never create a one-size-fits-all campaign. We start by asking what you need to accomplish, and help you decide the best process to get there.

With Find It Local 411, your customers will come to expect the high quality, personalized experience that you can always expect from us. We’re experts in helping you put on your best face, and we love helping you make your customers happy.

It’s important in today’s competitive environment to have your own web site as the standard way to tell customers about you and what you can do for them. It’s also important to make yourself easy to find, by actively putting your brand out in front of potential business. With over 600 million users worldwide, Facebook is a terrific way to be found. However, with that large a user base (and growing every day), it’s more and more important that you make your business stand out in the crowd, and Find It Local 411 has the knowledge and expertise to do just that for you.

• We create Facebook pages that are specifically designed for your brand, incorporating the “look” that works for you, that distinguishes you from all of the other sites on Facebook. This is especially important when you consider that Facebook might be the first point of contact between a customer and you. We can use that first impression to show them what’s special and unique about your business, which is something a generic page simply isn’t equipped to do. Remember: you might never get a second chance.

• We can embed your content—such as videos and images—directly into your facebook page. We’ll also always include links to your other social media accounts, and of course your website. In short, we ensure that any way a potential customer can get ahold of you is made available to them, right on your Facebook page.

• The “Like” button is the most important feature of a Facebook page. People who click “Like” when they visit your page, even if they never return to the page again, will receive your updates in their news feed. Also, their contacts will receive notification that they have “liked” your page, which could in turn lead to even more traffic. We make sure that this important feature is emphasized in our designs, to maximize the number of conversions your page generates.

It’s so important that the impression you make with your Facebook page increases a potential customer’s interest in your business, leaving them wanting to know more about you, instead of simply clicking away. By making your page unique, user-friendly, and attractive, Find It Local 411 can help you get the traffic your business needs.

Millions of businesses around the world are using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter (and many more) to connect with their customers. Is yours? Even if you’re relatively savvy at using social media for personal purposes, FindItLocal411 can dramatically increase the value you’re getting out of these services.

• We have the expertise and dedication to know how to address the different communities on the web who use each service, and how to present what makes your brand unique to them. We also keep a close eye on which ads are working best, and which need to be changed. In short, we help your business get the attention it needs, that will turn into real, profitable business.

• We are experts at maintaining your brand across platforms. We create multiple landing pages, so that Facebook users can “like” your content, and sign up for more updates from you. This is also seamlessly integrated into our Mobile Marketing campaign, increasing your presence both on and off the web!  Integrating a feature like the FinditLocal411 Mobile Marketing Center will give you a huge advantage over typical email marketing .  The simple reason is that mobile marketing Open Rates are over 97%.

• Using several separate social media accounts to engage with your customers is time consuming, and if you’re not careful, you can spend so much time promoting your business that you’re not spending the time you need on actually running your business. We have the know-how to make sure that your message gets to the right people, and at the right time!

Social media sites are too important a way of reaching customers to be ignored, and they’re only becoming more important as time passes. Let us help you get found!

How About Those Social Networks

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Linkedin…sound familiar? Undoubtedly, you either have an account with one of these social networking sites, or have at least heard of them. They have become nearly impossible to avoid in the 21st century. Online social networking has become a billion-dollar industry, reaching out world-wide to everyone from college students to business executives.

As consumers will undoubtedly continue to visit social networking sites, the market value of these sites is bound to grow. Contributing to blogs, making Facebook and Myspace profiles, and connecting with others across the world is a sure sign that social networking sites are here to stay, and businesses taking notice of that can learn important marketing strategies for the future. Businesses are sure to find ways to use these social networks in an effort to bring revenue into their business. Introducing products and services into social networks is becoming a “revenue winner”.

Where Do I Go To Get “Connected”

Social networking is obviously very popular online today. Unlike general networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, there are a number of smaller networks that focus on professionals and businesses. These sites can be an excellent place to gain some exposure and to communicate with other entrepreneurs. Many savvy business owners are exploring non-conventional ways to connect to other business owners to measure their business and keep up on the most up-to-date tactics for selling similar products. As we all know in this tough economy having a slight edge can make a huge difference.

Many sites out there cater to business owners and entrepreneurs. Sites like LinkedIn that’s focus is to connect you to business people and collaborate with other professionals. Sites like E.Factor and Entrepreneur connect offer international tools for connecting your small business to hundreds of other business owners. These sites offer discussion forums for business owners looking for funding, partnerships, and suggestions on where to find money to give your business a boost.

Get Connected With Your Audience

If you don’t have a personal Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or other social account you may be missing out on what consumers are “looking for”. Being in the social loop you can find out a variety of information about not just your friends, but even your potential customers as well. I’ve seen this explode in the last couple years, business owners, organizations, hospitals, and everyone in between are looking to social networking to broaden there clientele.

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Linkedin…sound familiar? Undoubtedly, you either have an account with one of these social networking sites, or have at least heard of them. Most may have been originally started as a way for teens and college students to share pictures or message with each other. However, they have become nearly impossible to avoid in the 21st century. Online social networking has become a billion-dollar industry, reaching out world-wide to everyone from college students to business executives.

Next to search engines, social networking sites are the most popular on the internet. According to Hitwise research, U.S. Internet traffic to social networking sites rose 11.5 percent from January 2007 through February 2007. It also accounted for 6.5 percent of all U.S. Internet traffic in February 2007. These sites allow banners, groups and networks, and personal profiles to be used as marketing tools to other business and consumers.

As consumers will undoubtedly continue to visit social networking sites, the market value of these sites is bound to grow. Contributing to blogs, making Facebook and Myspace profiles, and connecting with others across the world is a sure sign that social networking sites are here to stay, and businesses taking notice of that can learn important marketing strategies for the future.

Until Next Time,

S

Think BIG, Think The Internet

It’s hard to believe that only 10 years ago, the largest forms of advertising in the media were newspaper, television, and radio. Now, as we near the end of the first decade in the 21stnew media has taken over the advertising market. The Internet is the present, and the future of successful advertising. century,

A great way to recognize that new media is an excellent way to advertise is to look at how we research. Google is one of the top-rated sites on the Internet, finding information about millions of topics for millions of people every single day. This research used to be done through newspapers, encyclopedias, and books. This isn’t to say those resources are obsolete, but they have quickly become secondary to the popularity and ease of the Internet’s many resources.

The youth of today will be the consumers of the future. Today, over 18 million teenagers and young adults are looking at the Internet for trends, what to purchase, and what to become interested in. By advertising businesses or products online, businesses can be assured that what they have to offer is being seen, in a quicker and more effective way than old forms of media could ever provide in our fast-paced culture.

There are so many reasons why local businesses need an Internet presence. When looking at how much advertising has migrated to the Internet from newspapers and other “traditional” outlets, you can get a good idea of just how big the advertising shift is from offline to online. If your business is only advertised on paper, or only listed in telephone books, or struggling with the limited exposure and high costs of traditional media …you are clearly missing out on a huge amount of potential customers. With the U.S. economy stressed and advertising on traditional media so expensive, inflexible and simply not doing the job you may feel it should – advertising on the Internet is the ticket many “growing” companies are using to attract and develop new customers.

If you’re customers are searching the Internet for your business in particular, or even for your products, and you have no Internet presence, you will lose the sale…..period! If your company is on the Internet, but not positioned on the Internet in a manner so it is easy for local customers to find you, you will lose the sale.

The Internet is quickly becoming the ‘go-to’ source for shopping for nearly everything! The statistics are staggering according to the Nielsen surveys for 2008. Personally, I go online and read product and company reviews before making purchases. There is nothing better than reading a review on several cameras to find out what people who’ve already purchased those cameras think about them – good or bad.

Here are 10 important reasons why you should consider advertising on the Internet:

1. The Internet is open 24/7, 365 days a year.
• Unlike your company’s office that may only be open from 9-5, Monday thru Friday, your company’s website is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When you’re out of the office, simple tools like email links will provide potential customers a way to ask questions about your products, knowing that in the morning you’ll respond!
• Time zones should be considered as well. Your business may be in a different time zone than a neighboring city, which is why being on the web makes it time convenient as well.

2. Promote Your Services
• Lawyers, doctors, financial consultants, entertainers, Realtors and all service-oriented businesses should let customers know that they have a choice. Millions of users are referring to the web and are using company’s websites to make major decisions when they need a specialized service. Websites like FinditLocal411 offers a complete set of online tools for all businesses.

3. The Internet is flexible • A web page can be changed at your convenience. Your web page can be updated seamlessly with your product changes.
• Updating your products and new offers will increase your clientele not to mention showing your up-to-date with new products and services. That’s right from Doctors to Lawyers, washers to dryers, to suckers to blowers……yes, all of you’re services can be updated 24/7.

4. Reach New Markets with a Global Audience
• On the Internet, you aren’t that local little business anymore. You have the potential to be seen by millions across the world. Did you ever think your company would have the possibility of doing business around the world?

5. Improved Customer Service
• Providing answers to questions on your website, like sales and information requests can be processed automatically and without delay, whether someone is in the office or not…what a concept!! Online forms can be used to allow customers to request quotations or ask further information. The customer is satisfied with filling out a form=2 0requesting information, but you MUST respond or you will lose credibility.

6. Sell Your Products
• You have the opportunity to sell your products online. This is simple!! You can contract almost any website design house to set-up an ecommerce site.

7. Gather Information and Generate Valuable Leads
• You can gather information about your customers and potential customers by using forms, surveys, and prizes. Rather than going out and getting leads, let them come to you. This is a great tool for prospecting targeted customers looking to use your products and services. A good example would be a travel agent. A travel agent can offer a free trip with an online survey. From the survey the travel agent can get valuable information about potential clients not to mention contact information for emails and direct mail.

8. Provides Instant Gratifications
• People are busy and don’t like to wait for information. Give them what they want, when they want it. If your product is suitable, offer them free samples or trials to download. This includes pictures, brochures, software, videos, Power Point slides, music and more.

9. Show off your Professional Image
• For a small business, a well-designed web site is a great way of instilling confidence and looking bigger than you actually are. In this day in age, customers assume that you already have a website. By now, your primary competitors probably already have a presence on the Internet. If they do, keep up with them and find ways to make yours better.

10. Great Recruiting Tool
• Whether you are looking for talent or posting job opportunities with your company, your website is a great recruiting tool for building your business. You can offer online applications and provide position details like salary, hours, and benefits.

GM Shifts Advertising Funds