Category Archives: Small Business Marketing

Web Design Trends for 2013

CSS3, HTML5, Small Business Marketing, Web Design

web design trendsAs we enter another year in the world of web design and the changing landscape of technology and social media, it’s clear that programmers and social media strategists, have come a long way. From the first hyperlink and alt tagged jpeg, to HTML5 sites and Content Management System (CMS) programs, like WordPress, that simplified web page building, the trends that have remained popular in web design have been ones that were meant to make websites easier to access through various devices, and easier to create. Ali Qayyum, a regular contributor for Smashinghub.com, recently released his top six trends for 2013. Expanding on his predictions for 2013 are included examples of how a few of these trends work in the world of web design, so the novice designer has a more clear idea of how these trends are put into practice.

Focusing Less On Branded Design

This trend was likely not favored among marketing agencies at first, but is beginning to make sense more and take hold. Qayyum thinks of it as telling branded design to take a hike. If you are putting less emphasis on the brand design of a company, you will ultimately be forced to focus more on the products and more meaningful content that is associated with selling the product. Several websites accomplish this design well; more notably, car websites like Freeway Chevrolet or retail sites like Macy’s. The idea behind this trend is to put the focus on what the company sells, rather than on the company itself.

Responsive Design

responsive web designResponsive design is when a design concept is created to look more attractive on a

new device, like the tablet or on a smartphone. The size and amount of elements will vary depending on whether you are searching for a site on your smartphone or on your laptop. You might design a site that has less text on the home page, larger buttons and less distracting graphics, so the home page can convert to a tablet or smartphone format with more ease. SocialDriver.com says sites like BostonGlobe.com and FoodSense.ie accomplish this by creating good navigation bars and simple text easy to read on the computer, tablet or smart phone.

Vertical Scrolling

Similar to the responsive design trend, vertical scrolling, which is really the easiest way to look through a site, has been adopted over horizontal scrolling or even clicking through to multiple pages. This trend is likely because most users who access information on their tablets or smartphone prefer to scroll with their finger, vertically and the less you have to change in a site that is being converted for different formats, the better. Most sites like Mashable.com, SmashingHub.com and others scroll vertically.

Other trends that Qayyum mentioned, like stylized typography and Parallax scrolling are important changes that have taken the world of design by storm in recent years, and certainly the development of touch-sensing keys on hand-held devices merged a site’s design with its function and style, which is what every designer hopes to accomplish when executing a design.

Employee Appreciation Changes Everything

Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing
business appreciation infographic

Does your employer appreciate you?

How do you feel about the company you work for? Do you feel appreciated and needed on a regular basis? If not, you are certainly not in the minority. Recent studies show that most employees want some sort of recognition for a “job well done” every seven days, yet their superiors do not live up to that expectation. In fact, over 79 percent of employees have said they have left a job because of lack of appreciation in the workplace. It turns out that “people leave their managers, not their companies.” Even those who stay with their unappreciative jobs have a difficult time, with 60 percent of employees saying they do not feel motivated by their managers’ desires and goals for the company. Unfortunately, only 14 percent of employees claim real satisfaction with their jobs and a feeling of appreciation in the workplace.
Leaders of companies often feel that they do recognize employees, although the employees would disagree. Ironically, 56 percent of management believes it does a great job at recognizing employee efforts, while only 23 percent of staff members claim the same to be true. So what seems to be the problem? It looks like leaders simply do not show appreciation for employees for three different reasons. They don’t know what to do, they don’t know what is okay, or they don’t want to deal with the hassle. However, if they hope to keep the organization running well and they want to have motivated, quality employees, they had better get appreciation savvy. They need to come up with an easy way to recognize great work, know what is appropriate, and have a variety of tools and ideas to do so. Leaders need to recognize things including smart ideas, extra effort, team success, a job well done, and great service.
This quote from the Towers Watson Global Recognition Study sums it up nicely: “Engagement comes from the sense that my boss cares about me and appreciates my performance.”

Employee appreciation changes everything in the workplace and beyond. So if you’re not feeling appreciated look elsewhere until you do. Eventually employers will get the hint!

SEO Gains More Ground In The Real Estate Website Niche – 3 Hot Trends For 2013

SEO, Small Business Marketing, Web Design, , ,

SEO in real estate businessesIn spite of the fact that 2013 was predicted as the year when the real estate industry will finally reach rock bottom, for the mid period in January, the US homeowners, realtors and the whole globe for that matter was amazed to see the US housing market recover. In fact, according to a recent report published by JPMorgan Chase & Co, the real estate market was showing signs of getting back on its feet since 2012 when the property prices started to increase, slowly but steadily.
Surely this is the break agents were anxiously anticipating. However, this great news also demands some changes in the realtor practices and particularly, their methods of attracting customers. While the following article does not have all the answers, it will offer you valuable information regarding the hottest trends in real estate internet marketing. Let’s elaborate!

Interactive photography

With the bloom of the mobile market and the stiff competition in practically every business segment, customers have become more informed and consequentially, more demanding. As you could notice from last year, people interesting in a real estate transaction expect to learn everything there is to know about a certain asset online. Because nothing is more irritating or a turn off than a pushy real estate agent, the best approach to getting around in this industry consist of creating and uploading 360 degrees interactive photos of the properties and houses you list.

Mobile marketing

Considering that more than half of the adult populating in Europe, Asia and North America use their smartphones to browse the internet for recreational and business purposes, it would be a huge mistake if you didn’t jump on the bandwagon as well. Not to mention the fact that major search engines such as Google and Bing are recommending the implementation of a responsive web design due to the widespread nature of mobile devices. Essentially, what this means is that you need to make sure that your website can support all sorts of platforms and that it is compatible with all mobile devices.

Niche marketing

Truth be told, giving up on the lists and niches to which you dedicated your entire real estate agent profession is scary. However, it is also a crucial step for your career. If business is slow and your company does not have the means to stay on top of the competition, unless you decide to take these associated risks you might lose it all. The advantage is that by making this move you will have sufficient resources at your disposal to focus on a few niches and, more importantly, carry on the marketing campaigns properly and with satisfactory results.
It is important to note that this strategy’s success will mostly depend on the size of the market. While it would make all the sense in the world to narrow down your audience in a metropolis where you typically have 10 or more competitors to worry about, doing so in a small town will only result in killing your business slowly. In general, the real estate marketing campaign for a small town would reap more advantages if it includes alternative tactics such as videos, incentives and an optimized local search for mobiles.

You can thank Celina Rodger from Dialed-In Local for today’s guest post. She is a pro when it comes to internet marketing. Visit her website to know more about Nashville web marketing services.

Boost Engagement With Technology-Infused Email Marketing

Small Business Marketing, Web Design, ,

Don't let email go to spam

Recently seen as exciting and fresh, email marketing aged quickly behind social media, marketers’ newest go-to strategy. “Likes” now take precedence over subscribers, and following trends is more noble than providing engaging content. Social networking platforms have opened up a world of possibilities for businesses, no doubt, but with advanced metrics and dwindling competition, could it be that now is the perfect time to launch an email marketing campaign? In reality, email marketing’s decline has been greatly exaggerated. Hubspot reports that 54 percent of marketers who used email marketing during the 2011 holiday season said their campaigns were extremely or very successful.

If you’re looking to establish greater customer relationships or promote your product or service through content, ignore the premature obituaries and consider email marketing to spread the word.

Study Metrics

Email marketing lost value when users became immune to the slew of messages. On-the-go recipients quickly developed an eye to spot useless advertisements, and email providers even began filtering these messages into marketing wastelands known as “spam” folders. While many businesses believe that email marketing is a dead tactic, new metrics can help marketers determine their campaign’s effectiveness. Open rates tell marketers how many recipients opened the mail, which provides insight into effective email titles. Click-through rate monitors how many recipients follow a business link to the desired destination. Like with any other advertising, engaging relevant content entices consumers to learn more. Other metrics, including response rate, conversion rate and unsubscribe rate provide further procession, turning a guessing game into a sharpened tool.

Many mass email service providers include these metrics in their services. Otherwise, businesses can purchases individual tools online at sites like getopenrate.com.

Focus on Content

In the age of social media, email has become a more efficient way to consume information. Without real-time comments, photos, videos and links, email is pound-for-pound a more effective way to communicate. To maintain this edge, email marketers must focus their efforts on providing value to recipients. Use email content to put your business’ product or service in context, outlining where you fit in a trending or relevant topic. If you’re losing subscribers, consider adding exclusive deals or discounts in your email content.

By providing value to email recipients, not only will you build brand awareness for your business, you’ll also strengthen relationships with your subscribing or potential customers, a skill social media claims to dominate.

Know Your Audience

Effective content engages readers, so in order to build a content strategy, you’ll need to know your audience. A software company that offers to a wide audience might be tempted to lob various content topics as they email market. Survey data might reveal that many of its subscribers are business owners. In this case, an email marketer would be wise to mold their email marketing content around B2B companies.

Audience analysis makes crafting an email marketing campaign easier and more focused.

 By Peter Marino