One emerging trend in online marketing is mobile search. With more people buying  smartphones and using them to find businesses online, mobile search is poised to be a high growth marketing opportunity for many businesses all around the globe.

For one thing, mobile search is highly local. Your customers are searching for a restaurant, gas station, or other business while on the run – on their mobile phones. And if they find your business online using their cell phones, they can often contact your business with one click through one of these methods:

• Click to call
• Skype call
• E-mail
• SMS, or texting
• Website form
• Facebook message
• Twitter
• Google Maps directions
• Foursquare

And this is just to name a few.

Mobile search allows people to find your business while they are in their cars, and then use your contact information on the spur of the moment to visit your store or buy something online.

And now mobile apps are allowing shoppers to compare prices while shopping. If they are in a competitor’s store and you have a better price on the merchandise they are looking for, through a mobile app, that customer can contact you, get a price, and even purchase the product for in-store pickup or have it delivered.

There is no search quite like mobile search. It isn’t all local, but the part of mobile that is local is very powerful.

Imagine the possibilities with mobile search. If you don’t, your competition will.

When it comes to marketing online, there are plenty of “gurus” and “experts” willing to tell you what metrics to pay attention to. Usually, you get the same old suggestions. They’re either all SEO related or social media related, but those aren’t the most important metrics. Important, maybe. Most important, not.

So what are the most important metrics that determine your online ROI?

Every business owner should pay close attention to two website metrics and listen to what they are saying: Conversion Rate and Visitor Engagement.

Conversion Rate

To measure your conversion rate you must first have a desired goal. Is it newsletter sign ups? Sales? Downloads?

Know what you want your visitor to do, then measure how many positive actions you get versus website visitors. You are looking for a ratio, something like 1 download for every 5 website visitors, expressed as 1:5. Another way of stating it is 20% of site visitors sign up for the company newsletter.

Your conversion rate says a lot about how effective you are in marketing yourself through your various channels.

Visitor Engagement

Visitor engagement is a little bit more challenging. There are several variables that should be taken into consideration when judging engagement:

• Bounce rate
• Average pages per visit
• Average time on site
• Social media shares and likes
• And eye tracking studies too

These statistics tell you how your visitors are interacting with your site, if at all. Do they leave your site after a few seconds or stick around and view more pages? Do they like your landing pages or share them with their friends on social media? These are important metrics for telling how successful you are in presenting your brand to your visitors.

Metrics are an important part of marketing online. If you measure the right data, then you can make the right decisions about it can be used to affect your bottom line.

If you are marketing your local business online, how do you reach customers that will do business with you? Below we’ll share 5 ways you can reach more local customers using online strategies, and it’s so easy that anyone can do it.

1. E-mail marketing – E-mail marketing is still one of the most effective ways to market a business online. Even a local business. Build a website and get people to opt in to your e-mail list. Make your content worth reading and shareable. Build your list. That’s where the money is.
2. Social media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn. Pick the social media sites that will work for you and develop relationships with people in your local area.
3. Mobile marketing – People are in their cars and on their phones. So why not reach them where they are? Make your website searchable and viewable on any device and people will find you, navigate to you, and do business with you.
4. Your local blog – Make your blog a valuable local resource. When people see you give to the community, they will be encouraged to build a powerful relationship with you.
5. Local search engine optimization – People search for all kinds of things online, and a lot of what people search for is local. Submit your website to Google Places and Bing Local. Once you’re in the search engines, local search gets a lot easier.

Your business can be marketing online to local clientele. Use these 5 online tactics to find the right people to do business with, and start getting them to your website today.

If you listen to some marketers, they’ll tell you that the best time to send out a social media message is on Thursday at 3 p.m. Well, most of that is just bad advice. There really is no best time to send out a social media message for effectiveness. But there might be a best time for you in terms of time management. There may also be a best time for your business based on who you’re trying to reach.

People are on social media at different times of the day. And so should you be. Or, you could post your messages at various times of the day, and you don’t have to be on social media in order to do that. In fact, you can post on Facebook while in a business meeting without having to pick up your computer or cell phone.

So how do you do that? You pre-schedule your posts.

There are varying opinions online about pre-scheduled posts.  Social Media Strategist Caroline Melberg says, “I’m not saying you should pre-schedule. Some businesses do, some businesses don’t. Some people will tell you they don’t like pre-scheduled posts, and if you do it they’ll un-friend you. I say do what is best for reaching your customers and potential customers, because after all, that’s all that matters.”

But what about the time of the day?

“In general,” says Caroline, “I think the best times to post on social media are first thing in the morning, last thing at the end of the day, and during lunch or breaks. These are the times when you’re most likely to reach the largest number of people. Take a few minutes to see who has responded to you or engaged you, take the necessary action, and move on. The key there is to move on. You have a lot of other important things to do, so don’t get distracted.”

Ideally, you’d measure the effectiveness of your social media by testing Tweets and posts at various times of the day.  See which time of the day brings you the most engagement, and try to increase your volume at that time – but don’t overlook the rest of the day as people’s habits change and you want to remain flexible enough to change with them.

It is used to be that companies that invested in a marketing plan at all only had to craft their marketing plan for a brick and mortar world. Even after the advent of the Internet, many companies didn’t integrate an online marketing plan. The first wave of Internet marketing was largely new startups and gutsy entrepreneurs experimenting with how to position their businesses online.

Today, however, all marketing wisdom gathered through the ages has changed.

If you want to survive in the marketplace today, then you need an integrated marketing plan. That’s a marketing plan that takes into consideration the traditional aspects of marketing (branding, public relations/press releases, TV, radio, print advertising, etc.) that you’ve grown accustomed to and online marketing techniques that have developed over the last twenty years.

The challenge for most small businesses is in deciding what the proper mix of integration should be. Do you need 75% traditional marketing and 25% online marketing or vice-versa?

Unfortunately, there’s no hard and fast rule. If you intend to do business online, then you need a website, that much is certain. But do you need a blog, social media, search engine optimization, or e-mail marketing? Possibly. And even if you do decide to incorporate them into your marketing plan, how much of each tactic should you invest in? The answer all depends upon your business goals and who you’re trying to reach.

Every company is different.  And every marketing plan is different, therefore your needs are going to be different. That’s why you need someone to help you navigate the wacky world of marketing today. It isn’t as simple as it once may have been, as new tactics appear frequently and the search engines change daily. In fact, there are so many variables and frequent changes that to try to market your business without a guide has become very difficult.

Creating an integrated marketing plan for your business isn’t rocket science – but we do recommend seeking the help of an experienced marketing professional to help you navigate the waters – you’ll get to your destination faster and at a lower cost than experimenting on your own.

In the old days, (say, 7 years ago), small and mid-size businesses relied on simple yet effective ways of promoting themselves and reaching the customers they wanted to reach. Some of these promotional tactics can also be accomplished online.

Here are 5 old-world marketing ideas that can be carried over to your online marketing strategy, some at a lower cost than their more traditional fore-bearers, with a new-world spin:

1. Newsletters – Remember when you had to write your newsletter, get it designed, printed, and then mailed? All of that took time and effort – and expense!  Today, all you have to do is produce your newsletter using an online service (such as Constant Contact or other similar services) and e-mail it. The costs are fewer and the benefits are greater – with an online newsletter you can even see who opened and read your message!  (Visit our archive of e-mail marketing tips here)
2. Postcards – Postcards have been a mainstay in the marketing world for a long time. Many real estate agents and other business owners still use them. Now you can go green and send out postcards by e-mail and it’s just as effective and inexpensive as it ever was.
3. Guest Authoring – The old method of guest authoring was to write an article and send it to a trade magazine or print periodical. While still a viable tactic, now you can do the same thing and more often, with online publications as well.  Write an article and send it to a relevant blog that accepts guest posts.  No postage fees – and you can get a valuable link back to your website or blog with additional traffic.
4. Networking – It’s nice to meet face-to-face with people, but realistically, everyone is busier these days and it’s harder to connect in real life (especially heading into the busy holiday season). Through social media networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook or through forums that cater to people of a single interest you can do a lot of your networking online more efficiently and effectively. (See our post on using LinkedIn to grow your business here).
5. Display advertising – Printed newspapers and telephone books are dying and along with them the popularity of print ads. But you can still engage in display advertising online. Re-direct your print advertising budget online!  Choose a website that caters to the same audience you want to reach or has the same topical focus. Or go the pay-per-click route and advertise through Google.

The basic old-world marketing fundamentals are the same, but the methods have changed a bit.  Is it time to update your marketing tactics to align with business 2.0 and beyond?

Needless to say, the National Football League (NFL) and Commissioner Roger Goodell are taking quite a beating from angry fans, players and coaches after last night’s Monday Night Football game of the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks – and social media is taking the eruption to mammoth proportions.

Most people are lashing out at the NFL and Commissioner Goodell for not yet reaching an agreement with the regular officials who are still on strike. While the replacement refs are doing their best, one call from last night’s game might just be the straw to break the camel’s back – and force the NFL to reach agreements to end the strike immediately.

In case you haven’t yet seen the now-famous replay, the final seconds of the game involved Seattle Quarterback Russell Wilson throwing a pass to the end zone as the Seahawks trailed the Packers 7 points to 12 points. It appeared that M.D. Jennings of the Packers came down with control of the ball while Seahawks player Golden Tate had a hand on the ball as well. The replacement referees made conflicting calls and ruled after replay that the result was a Seahawks touchdown to give them the win.

Within seconds of the call, social media users were lighting up the web with comments and complaints – and it wasn’t just average fans. Numerous celebrities were tweeting and posting their own thoughts about the call.

LeBron James of the Miami Heat immediately tweeted:

Professional Sportscaster Doug Gottlieb immediately called out Commissioner Goodell personally with complaints. “Dear Mr Goodell- congrats on your league being totally screwed.”

A fan page of Packer Linebacker Clay Matthews helped other fans voice their outrage by reposting Roger Goodell’s actual office number directly on the fan page. How would you like to be the person to sort through those angry voice messages?

When it comes to transparency through social media, the professional sports industry isn’t the only area that has been impacted. Clients and customers are increasing their reliance on the convenience and simplicity of using social media as a main way to communicate openly with businesses and brands. It all comes down to whether or not those companies are actively listening and responding to comments – both positive and negative. Instead of only being on the defense while responding to customers, make sure that you have a strong offense by ensuring your key messages are being used consistently throughout all of your communications.

How do you think social media communication has affected the way you view businesses and brands?

Have you been forced to deal with an unfortunate social media disaster? Baratunde Thurston, director of digital at The Onion, shared an experience of a past crisis in the September issue of Fast Company. It all happened because of one wrong setting that made a major impact and briefly labeled the brand as a “spammer.”

Have you edited your post before clicking "publish"?

Tools for scheduling your posts, such as Hootsuite or Seesmic, can be very helpful and convenient – especially when you have multiple accounts to manage. But with the convenience comes risk. Knowing your settings and how they work are a vital part of using any tool in the online world. Catastrophes can show up around any corner. If you don’t follow the instructions carefully, there can be dire consequences ­ – all because you wanted to save a little time. It can take a simple check of a box to differentiate between being a spammer and an authentic user.

The necessity of double-checking your posts before you publish them can be easy to forget. Even those who thoroughly review content before sending it live can make errors. It never hurts to have a second pair of eyes look over your post.

So what do you do if you come across a major social media emergency? Whether you’re posting on behalf of your clients or your own company, every business needs a social media policy. It can help draw distinct lines for employee behavior on social sites and establish guidelines in case of an unexpected crisis.

Do you have a social media policy in place?

The Social Media Incubator prepares for Zenith Social Media Conference in Duluth this upcoming Wednesday, May 23. The conference will feature speaker from national and internationally known speakers including Rand Fishkin, Marty Weintraub, Laura Weintraub, Greg Jarboe, Merry Morud, Ric Dragon and many others.

On our way to the beautiful shores of Lake Superior!

Some of the topics will address the latest in the social media industry including:
Facebook Marketing, Killer Social Ads, Combining Social Media & PR, the Mobile Revolution, Reputation Monitoring Online and Social Media Law.

The advanced track will be hosted by aimClear, an advertising and social media company located in Duluth. As an international speaker, CEO and Author of “Killer Facebook Ads” Marty Weintraub is a leader in the industry in integrating social media into the business world.

Social Media Administrator Chelsea Janke will be attending the Zenith Conference. “I am excited to further my education of what others in the industry are using and the tools and tactics they are integrating with their clients’ marketing. After the OMS12 conference in San Diego in February, it has become clear that the most effective social media happens when business integrate social media fully with their current marketing plans. There are numerous companies out there that have template-like content and social media information to use, but quality over quantity is making its presence known, especially after the Google Panda update of February 2012.”

PR Specialist & Copywriter Kelly Kison will be attending the conference as well. “I’m looking forward to endeavoring more in the crossroads of where public relations meets social media and how to better optimize, publicize and socialize company news in the most creative, effective and lasting way. I am excited to learn more about strategic writing for different types of content across the internet.”

Are you attending the Zenith Conference or any other social media conferences in the near future?

Mention social media marketing and most people think of Facebook and Twitter. Sure, they are the biggest players on the Internet…or are they?

It’s true that Facebook and Twitter receive a lot of visitors each day, but that doesn’t make them the biggest players when it comes to social media marketing. There are some businesses that don’t seem to be able to make an impression on either of those sites, yet they find real success connecting with their audience on Pinterest or MySpace.

Where is your target audience online?

Social media sites are not all the same. Each site draws a different group of people for different reasons. With over 900 million users, Facebook has the widest appeal when it comes to demographics; however, each group has a different agenda when logging in. “Millenials” tend to want to upload photos, banter with their friends, and organize party dates – they really are social. Parents will log in to check on their children, compare notes with friends, ask questions, then log out again.  While that’s a bit of a generalization, it’s clear that everyone uses social media just a bit differently.

“If you look at the latest fad in social media, it’s Pinterest,” shared Social Media Strategist Caroline Melberg. “By all accounts, Pinterest is driving more traffic than Facebook and Twitter combined for some niches. When it comes to Pinterest, the audience is 75%-80% female, generally mothers, and mostly interested in fashion, food, personal services and baby-related goods. If you deal in any of those niches, then you may well find that Pinterest is the best social media channel in which you should market.”

When considering a social media marketing campaign, you need to strategically segment the social media channels that are available. Analyze each one to see whether or not your audience (potential customers) is heavily involved, and if so, find out in what way. Just because the numbers are large, that doesn’t mean you are going to get a huge response. By carefully assessing each option, you can then plan a marketing campaign that doesn’t just deliver your message to the right audience, but one that delivers that message in a way that is acceptable to them in that channel.

“The days are long gone where you can just pump content through Facebook and Twitter,” said Melberg. “You now need to be smarter in how you approach social media – more importantly, smarter in how you assess your approach to each social media site.”