April | 2009 | Marketing with New Technology

Video Marketing; A Great Way to Showcase Your Business April 23, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in Video Marketing, Web 2.0.
Tags: advertising, BlogTalkRadio, marketing, small business, small business owners, Video Marketing, viral video, Web 2.0
1 comment so far

In today’s Web 2.0 marketplace small business owners are learning to take advantage of every new technology tool they can find to grow their business. One of the least understood tools is Video Marketing. In this week’s episode of our BlogTalkRadio program ‘Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business’, our panel of experts explains how you can utilize Video marketing to grow your business, and how you can achieve this extremely cost-effectively. If you’re seeking new ways to market your business in the Web 2.0 environment, this is the show for you. Our panel of experts includes: Tim Tevlin, President of Local Business Videos Online; Greg George, Founder of iVideo Makers; and Bob Sullivan, Development Director of Think Creative Media Works.

Click HERE to listen to the complete broadcast!

Domino’s Nightmare Provides Social Media Lesson for Marketers April 16, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in public relations, Social Media, Video Marketing.
Tags: case studies, Domino's, Social Media, social media strategies, Video Marketing, viral video
1 comment so far

Think about it – your worst nightmare – one of your employees is on tape tampering with your product and has posted it to YouTube for all the world to see. And they’re seeing it, 550,000 of them as a matter of fact! That’s the problem Domino’s was facing when two employees decided to perform disgusting acts with its food, on camera, and then post them to YouTube.

In today’s environment of social media, viral video, and cell phone web access, every company needs to be vigilant about it’s brand and what is being said on the Internet. The following article discusses the challenges faced by Domino’s in this particular situation, preventative measures to be taken to insure your company is not involved in a similar situation, and lastly steps to take if it happens to you. Click HERE to read the article.

Mobile Marketing – the Inside Scoop! April 15, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in mobile, Mobile Marketing.
Tags: cellular phones, marketing, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, Mobile Marketing, mobile phones, small business
3 comments

Today’s BlogTalkRadio broadcast on “Mobile Marketing” consisted of an expert panel of nationally renowned mobile marketing industry insiders, including: Kim Graham Lee, CEO of Vontoo; Matt Silk, Sr. VP of Waterfall Mobile; Kim Dushinski, President/Founder of Mobile Marketing Profits and author of ‘The Mobile Marketing Handbook’; and Michael Becker, Co-founder and VP of Mobile Strategies at iLoop Mobile and co-author of ‘Mobile Internet for Dummies’ and ‘Web Marketing All-in-One for Dummies’.

Our panel provided a wealth of information on the different types of mobile marketing options, best practices, choosing vendors, industry trends, mobile strategies that perform the best, and examples of clients that have utilized mobile marketing effectively. The consistent theme throughout the broadcast – “just get started, stick your toe in and try it out to figure what works best for your firm”.

Hear the completed broadcast at http://blogtalkradio.com/strategicgrowthconcepts.

For additional information on Mobile Marketing, or to learn how we can help you develop a Mobile Marketing campaign for your firm, please contact us via our website or email us at info@strategicgrowthconcepts.com

Examples of Mobile Marketing by Major Brands April 11, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in mobile, Strategic Growth Concepts.
Tags: advertising, BlogTalkRadio, BMW, CBS, cellular phones, Charmin, Kellogg's, marketing, mobile advertising, Mobile Marketing, mobile phones, Procter & Gamble, small business, Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business, ValPak
6 comments

As part of our efforts to keep you informed of all things related to marketing with new technology, we wanted to bring you up-to-speed on some of the latest uses of Mobile Marketing that we’ve recently learned about. Our goal is that you begin to have some understanding of the wide variety of uses that mobile marketing can play in your firm’s overall marketing strategy.

One of the recent uses we’ve learned about is a cross-marketing program being employed by CBS to promote their new TV series, ‘Harper’s Island’. Learn the details HERE.
Another program is currently being run in England by Kellogg’s. In this program, the company provides recipes using its cereal products on the boxes. Customers are urged to send in videos of themselves making and eating the products in order to enter a contest giving them a chance to win participation in a TV or print commercial. Learn the details HERE.
A third user of mobile marketing is the giant shared mail company, ValPak. The company has recently added mobile coupons to its arsenal of products, which has resulted in the download of 140,000 coupons by consumers. Learn more about the company’s program HERE.
BMW in Germany implemented a mobile marketing campaign with new customers before the start of winter weather. Their recent customers received a personalized message with a winter tire recommendation that was specific to their vehicle. BMW reports a 30% conversion rate for the campaign. Learn more about their program HERE.
Last but not least, Procter & Gamble’s Charmin brand is sponsorsing a website and iPhone application that helps consumers find the cleanest public restrooms worldwide. Get more information HERE.

As you can see by these varied examples, the uses of mobile marketing are many and diverse. Please check back to this blog often to see more examples, and don’t forget to join us on Tuesday, April 14^th at 2:30 p.m. EDT for our BlogTalkRadio show, ‘Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business’, where the topic discussed by this week’s panel of industry experts will be “Mobile Marketing – What is it and how can it be used to grow your business?” Call-in information can be found at http://blogtalkradio.com/strategicgrowthconcepts .

__________________________________________________________

Strategic Growth Concepts is a Detroit-based firm that provides training and consulting services to start-up, small and mid-sized businesses in the areas of Start-up, Marketing, Operations, HR and Strategic Planning. The firm’s CEO, Linda Daichendt is a recognized business expert with 20+ years of corporate, small business and franchising experience. Linda can be contacted at linda@strategicgrowthconcepts.com , and the company website can be viewed at www.strategicgrowthconcepts.com.

Public Relations: How to Use it to Grow Your Business April 8, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in public relations.
Tags: BlogTalkRadio, podcasting, public relations, small business, Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business
add a comment

Had an enlightening broadcast today on our BlogTalkRadio show, ‘Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business’. Today’s topic was ‘Public Relations: How to Use it to Grow Your Business’. Our expert panel consisted of: Gail Kent, Managing Director of The Buzz Factory; Jennifer Fortney, President at Cascade Communications and Publisher of SmallBizPRMadeEasy.com; and Melissa Cassera, President at Cassera Communications. Each of our panelists provided a wealth of valuable information on how to utilize public relations to your firm’s best advantage; each has also made available several special offers for our listeners. Download the podcast at http://blogtalkradio.com/strategicgrowthconcepts – and don’t forget to check the special offers while you’re there!

Should Your Company Explore Online Video Marketing? April 7, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in Strategic Growth Concepts, Video Marketing.
Tags: advertising, Internet, marketing, small business, Video Marketing, viral video
add a comment

Another area of technology that marketers need to consider these days is the use of online video. I’m just beginning to explore this topic in-depth myself, and am finding an interesting diversity of opinions on the subject. Additionally, I’m finding a lot of interesting ways in which it is suggested that video be used.

Since we’re just beginning exploration of this topic, at this time I’m going to provide links to some of the discussions I’m reviewing and we’ll delve in to the topic on a deeper level in future posts. Additionally, on April 21^st at 2:30 p.m. EDT I have scheduled a discussion on this topic with a variety of video marketing experts during my regularly scheduled BlogTalkRadio program, ‘Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business’. Information about this program is available at http://blogtalkradio.com/strategicgrowthconcepts.

The following are links to some discussions on the topic of online video marketing, more will be forthcoming in the near future. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=102798

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=102683

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=101511

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=102214

MARKETING YOUR COMPANY VIA MOBILE April 6, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in email marketing, mobile, Strategic Growth Concepts.
Tags: advertising, blogging, BlogTalkRadio, cellular phones, email, Internet, marketing, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, Mobile Marketing, mobile phones, small business, small business owners
11 comments

As with all small businesses, I am always researching to find additional ways of promoting my company to increase my customer base. However, given my personal business background in the wireless industry I have become a strong proponent of mobile marketing and see it as “the next internet” if you will. Therefore I’m putting in place several items that I believe will be of interest to those looking for newer, cost-effective methods of marketing their business.

First, I’ve gone on the search for as much information on mobile marketing as I can find since my familiarity with it provides me with enough knowledge to know that even experienced marketers are going to need some training. They’ll need education in the various methods of mobile marketing, how those methods work, what they cost, and which method will be most effective for reaching their particular target audience. As a source that small businesses turn to for information, I want to be able to provide that information in an easy-to-understand way, so over the next few weeks I will be developing a series of blog posts that focus on different aspects of mobile marketing to help make it easier for the average small business owner or marketing practitioner to understand.

Second, I have scheduled a panel discussion with a group of mobile marketing experts on an upcoming segment of my BlogTalkRadio show, ‘Strategic Marketing Concepts for Small Business’. This segment will air on Tuesday, April 14^th at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Panel members are still being finalized so more information on this will be provided within the next few days, however, let me assure you I am VERY excited about the experts that have offered to participate as they are some of the industry’s leading experts – and I’m quite confident that listeners will leave the broadcast with a great deal of useful information.

Third, I found an interesting mobile tool and decided to try it out. There is an online program by the name of Mofuse (which can be found at www.mofuse.com) that will take your existing blog and convert it to a mobile-compliant site so it can be more easily viewed on cellphones – and it’s FREE! Therefore, I have taken each of my blogs and entered them into the system to try out the program. They can be viewed at the following mobile web addresses: http://strategicgrowth.mofuse.mobi and http://hrconcepts.mofuse.mobi and http://marketingwithnewtechnology.mofuse.mobi . You can either access them at these addresses directly from your cell, or you can enter the addresses into the web where you will be brought to a page on which you can enter your cell phone number and have the site sent to your phone via text message. The idea I’m pursuing is making blogs easier to read from wherever you are, thereby increasing the small business owner’s access to potential customers. Have a look at the blogs via mobile and let me know what you think!

As we delve deeper into the topic of mobile advertising over the course of the next few weeks, I am confident that many of you will be intrigued by the wide variety of ways in which mobile marketing can be utilized to promote your business. Today, it’s cutting edge stuff; tomorrow, it will become as standard to us as email is today. So if you’ve ever chastised yourself for waiting too long to take advantage of new technology in promoting your business, follow with us over the next several weeks and this time, be one of the first instead of one of the last!

___________________________________________________________

FREE Marketing Plan Give-a-Way for Small Businesses; $8500 Grand Prize Value April 4, 2009

Posted by StrategicGrowth in Marketing Plan, Strategic Growth Concepts.
Tags: marketing, Marketing Plan, National Small Business Week, SBA, small business, Small Business Association, small business owners, Social Media, Strategic Growth Concepts, Web 2.0
2 comments

Small business owners across the U.S. have the opportunity to win a comprehensive Strategic Marketing Plan for their business prepared by consulting firm, Strategic Growth Concepts of Southfield, MI. Strategic is sponsoring this national contest, being promoted primarily via Web 2.0 technology and social media, as part of their efforts in support of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s upcoming National Small Business Week celebration.

Contestants can enter the contest via Strategic’s website at www.StrategicGrowthConcepts.com where they complete an online entry form, including essays about their business and why a Marketing Plan will benefit their company. Contest entrants have the opportunity to win the grand prize, a Strategic Marketing Plan designed to help the firm effectively market themselves to prospective customers and achieve increased sales (approximate value $8,500), or one of five secondary prizes, 2 hours of small business consulting per winner (approximate value $470 per winner). Entries can be submitted thru April 30, 2009, with winners being announced during National Small Business Week, May 17 – 19, 2009.

____________________________________________________________________________