9 Keep Your Website Viable By Avoiding These Conversion Pitfalls

Google vs. Yahoo For Marketing

You used to rely on word of mouth to get customers. Referrals were the name of the game for getting more business, and sometimes an ad in the local paper didn’t hurt. Things are different today because we operate in the digital age with a worldwide market. It’s not easy to reach your community, let alone the world. Even if you set up shop in someone’s backyard, they probably wouldn’t notice because their face is stuck in their phone.

There are more factors to consider when building an internet marketing plan than there used to be. You have a website and a blog already (at least I hope you do), and probably some social media accounts, but when it comes to advertising on search engines, things get a little tricky.

Google leads the search engine world in number of users, but don’t be too fast to discount Yahoo yet. Let’s take an in-depth look.

Google

Using Google Analytics tells you how traffic comes to your site, including demographic information like geographical location. These details help you narrow where you want to advertise on Google using pay per click campaigns. You can directly place your ads where you know potential clients see them.

Because Google AdWords is well-known, it’s more expensive. It costs nearly three times as much as advertising on other search engines, but you’re also paying for volume. Google controls sixty-seven percent of search marketing. You will likely get a more significant return on investment with Google over time.

Google provides a little more flexibility in keywords than other search engines do. You don’t have to worry about targeting specific words or phrases to get the recognition you want because Google is intelligent enough to crawl for closely related searches and return appropriate results.

Google has also made setting up AdWords easier than most other search engine ads because Google products like Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are easy to integrate. There are benefits to keeping all of your marketing and analytics in one place if you can afford to do so.

Yahoo

Let’s clear something up before we jump into the benefits of using something other than Google. Bing controls the Yahoo search engine, as well as that of all of their affiliates like duckduckgo.com and slickdeals.net. With Yahoo behind them, Bing continues to grow, so don’t underestimate the power of this team.

Bing and Yahoo rankings are virtually identical even though your search in each engine may return different results. Also, consider that many cell phone providers have made deals with companies like Yahoo to be the default search tool for mobile.

Markets exist regardless of your personal preferences. You may not use Internet Explorer anymore, but some people do. Why? No idea. The point is, just because you like or use or advertise on Google, doesn’t mean everyone does.

It would be difficult to spend the same amount of money on Bing or Yahoo using pay per click because there’s not enough volume. But performance makes up for this. You get more for your dollar, and if optimized correctly, your ads will land on the same corresponding pages, meaning they have the potential for the same click-through rates as Google.

Yahoo’s network of search engines makes the audience quality fantastic, so even at a smaller volume, you get a high concentration of quality clicks. Bing also has options that Google AdWords doesn’t. Advertising on Bing gives you transparency to the websites where your ads are running, allowing you to exclude poorly performing ones. You can also run segmented campaigns to run ads exclusively on specific search partners.

However, setup isn’t easy. It takes more work to integrate with things like Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager because Yahoo and Bing aren’t Google products (obviously). What you don’t spend in money, you may spend in time. Regardless, Yahoo tends to have better conversion rates, and cost per conversion is cheaper.

We’ve established that Google has more volume, but Yahoo and its affiliates have higher quality. Any advertising platform will eat you for breakfast if you let them. You have to set bids and control the parameters of your campaign no matter which one you use.

If you already use Google’s suite of products and you don’t have time to configure a new service or optimize your keywords, Google is probably the best choice for you. However, if you are running ads under budget constraints, you may want to consider Yahoo. If you want to optimize nearly one hundred percent of the market, I would recommend using both to measure the quality of each campaign and find what works for you. You can also check out my done-for-you system for more advertising ideas.

Suresh Bansal

www.Socialaai.com

8 How To Manage Your Website traffic To Guarantee Revenue

Best Browser Extensions for Social Media Marketing

We all find ourselves in the same routine day after day, clicking the same buttons, visiting the same URLs, going through all the same motions. If you’re like me, you’ve gotten pretty good at it. But sometimes turning on autopilot setting sets us up for failure when we’re not engaging our brain to do any thinking. We’re less creative, we’re less productive, and we’re bored.

Using browser extensions to automate some of those mundane tasks can help get you back on track. It saves things for you, so you don’t have to remember them, it streamlines your day, and it frees up your time to focus on the creativity that makes you good at what you do.

Buffer

Buffer allows you to connect social media profiles and then share directly from any website. If you do a lot of research for your campaigns and you find yourself saving these articles to share later, Buffer can help you organize them, so you don’t have to create a separate task list or schedule for sharing.

Highlight meaningful text within the article or right click on an image to share the picture directly. Twitter and Facebook connections come with built-in buttons for adding to your queues and scheduling future posts.

Giphy

Twitter and Pinterest now support GIFs, and many other social media sites and messaging services allow you to engage with your contacts using these hilarious online personality enhancements. It’s a lot easier to relate to your audience and convey how you feel through images rather than text.

Using the Giphy extension, you can search for GIFs and copy a shortened URL of any GIF you choose. Communicate with your target market quickly without worrying about copy all of the time.

Instagram for Chrome

If you find yourself always reaching for your phone to scroll through your Instagram feed, interact with your followers, or post a new picture, the Instagram for Chrome browser extension makes it easy to integrate Instagram into your day by keeping it visible while you’re working on other tasks. You don’t have to keep your phone handy and move away from the computer at all. You can even share images saved on your computer instead of having to transfer it to your phone to share it.

Riffle

Bring relevant insights to your Twitter stream with Riffle. When you click on the Riffle icon or Twitter username of a follower, lead, or influencer, the extension opens a display of user data including social media accounts, statistics, popular hashtags, mentions, URLs, and more. With visible, in-depth data, you can target your marketing to the appropriate audience at all times.

Klout

If you’ve ever wondered how your interactions and popularity measure up across social media platforms, Klout rescues you from calculating it yourself. Klout integrates the score right into your Twitter feed and other channels so that you can see an influence score right next to someone’s username. You can also use Klout to share directly from any website.

Ritetag

I may have saved my favorite for last. Sometimes I feel the effects of hashtag overload. Which hashtags are trending, which ones are people looking at, and which ones are so overused they have people rolling their eyes?

Ritetag analyzes your hashtag use and color codes them by popularity and strength. At a glance, you can see which of your hashtags has proved most useful in your campaigns and then build future campaigns around what works for you.

Take the guesswork out of your social media marketing campaigns by implementing some of the most useful browser extensions into your workflow. You can efficiently manage on-the-go platforms while you’re not going, making it simpler for you to balance your time and get things done. Check out my done-for-you system for more ideas.

Suresh@socialaai.com

Business Marketing with an Instagram Photo Contest

An Instagram photo contest is a great way to promote your business while having some fun. A photo contest can lead to new followers while your company is giving back to the Instagram community.

But running an Instagram photo contest isn’t always easy, and can be a bit confusing. Here is a short guide on getting the most out of a photo contest, should you choose to do so.

Target Your Market

Define your target market before kicking off your photo contest. A contest for families who enjoy camping is going to look a lot different than couples who look for new and exciting places to visit in the city. Determine who you intend to engage with, and gear your contest toward them.

Team Up

Finding a partner for your Instagram photo contest can be a benefit for both businesses. Not only can you gain more followers through this method, but you’ll also receive additional exposure. Most of these types of partnerships require participants to be followers of both accounts before they can enter. Keep things simple though. There’s no need to team up with more than one business per contest.

Avoid Confusion

Make sure your rules for entering and participating in your photo contest are clear and concise. Include an ending date and time, and offer step-by-step instructions for participants, including limitations on number of entries.

Call to Action

Provide your followers a clear call to action, so that they are fully aware of the necessary steps required to enter the contest. The primary purpose of your photo contest is to gain followers or increase your exposure (but make sure you have fun too!). The two most common ways to go about doing this is to have contestants tag a friend or post a picture.

Tag a Friend – For this type of call to action, have participants tag a friend to enter the contest. When the friend sees your post and competition, they will join and tag more friends.

Post a Photo – Contestants with this type of call to action post a photo and use a specific hashtag to enter. This will allow you to track the entries, and pick a winner when the time comes.

Keep an Eye on Submissions

This is your contest, so it would behoove you to be aware of how it’s progressing. Decide how you’ll monitor your contest, whether manually or by using one of the many tools available for just such an occasion. Decide beforehand how you plan on following your contest, so you’re not scrambling to decide while submissions are rolling in.

Declare a Winner

When your contest comes to a close, it’s time to pick a winner. Some contests use a poll, while others may use a group of judges. No matter what method you choose, select a winner and notify them through Instagram.

Promote the winner on your Instagram page, but don’t forget to give credit where credit is due. Cross-promote on other platforms. Announce the results on your Twitter, Facebook, and web pages as well.

Repeat as Needed

Running an Instagram photo contest doesn’t have to be a one-time occurrence. You can have a weekly or monthly contest. Explore your options, find what works best for your company and adjust as needed. Discover a way to build habits with your followers while creating momentum with your contests.

Instagram photo contests are an excellent opportunity to have fun with the platform while building up a following. Be creative and engaging with your contests to have the most success. Not only will you expand your audience, but you’ll also have fresh content that may inspire your next photo contest. For more tips, check out DFY’s lead generation system

Suresh@socialaai.com

Building Trust with Social Media

One thing that stands out today in the social media world we live in is that it’s important to develop a sense of trust with your followers. This is especially true for small and medium sized businesses, since the amount of trust between business and follower will only serve to build customer loyalty.

Trust is essential to building your brand, and even the best marketers in the world won’t be able to sell a product without first establishing trust with their customer base. They must create stories that offer a connection with their consumers.

But how do you go about building that trust?

 Use Your Content

Using content is the most reliable method you have for developing trust with followers. Create insightful, meaningful content that will provoke emotion and establish a connect with your consumers.

 Next, convert the data into graphical form

For this, you should invest in professional graphic design. There are some designers and websites that focus entirely on infographics. Look through a few portfolios and choose a designer who makes attractive-looking, useful infographics. Keep in mind that there are many ways to represent data outside of attractive pie-charts and graphs.

Turn your data over to your designer to be converted into an infographic. Make sure that your website is incorporated into the design. You’ll want to use the infographic for back-linking purposes.

Transparency

Followers want to see that you are a real, live person, not a faceless brand with which they’re doing business. They want to see your thoughts and your suggestions and learn more about you as a person. Consumers care less about the money and more about the relationship.

Take the time to develop and nurture the relationship you have with your consumer base. Show them the real you, and how you arrived at your current destination.

Pictures

Pictures are powerful. Consider the previous point and be sure to post pictures of your daily life. Followers want to see the real, unfiltered life you live. Share your daily routine with your consumers, on a regular basis so that they know who you are and what you’re doing.

Mind Your Manners

Being polite and courteous go a long way. Even though we may not give these words a second thought, the person we offer them to will remember them. When someone shares your post, make sure you thank them. If you need something from someone, make sure you ask them with a please.

Accept Criticism

 The harsh reality is that you and your business are going to be criticized. It comes with the territory of being truthful. Respond positively to critique. Allow it to be an opportunity for learning and growth. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe, but have an open mind that you might be in the wrong. Followers will notice how you respond.

Have Fun

 This is social media after all, isn’t it? You’re connect with thousands (if not more) of people from around the world in an instant, something never before possible in the history of our species. We have information about anything available at our fingertips. Enjoy what you’re doing. Have fun with it!

Be Adventurous

Don’t be afraid to try something new or unique when it comes to your social media accounts. It may not work, but followers will see that you’re willing to take a chance on something innovative. Sure you might fall flat on your face, but there’s also the possibility that you’ll succeed.

Be Responsive and Respectful

Responding to comments on posts isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Some people simply want to watch the world burn. Be respectful to everyone. Sometimes it’s not the easiest thing to do, but it is the right thing. And as mentioned previously, followers and customers will see how you react, and the correct response now may lead to additional business in the future.

Trust is something you earn, not something that’s given. Your followers put their trust in you because they see the real you and the way you handle everyday life. Use the trust and loyalty others have in you to develop relationships and provide your customers a great experience. For more information, you can check out DFY’s lead generation system

Suresh@socialaai.com

Marketing with Periscope

Periscope is a great tool to use to grow your customer base and business. Even though the application interconnects with Twitter, it provides innovative ways to connect with potential customers and followers.

Live streaming is slowly becoming a player in the social media market, and while it hasn’t experienced the explosion Instagram and other social media platforms have, it has shown steady incremental increases.

Let’s discuss some of the ways your company can use live streaming for marketing purposes.

Unveiling New Products

When it comes to unveiling new products, there are many options from which to choose. You can do a live product release with a clever unboxing. Another option would be to talk about key points and features of your product.

You could also do a reveal with a beta or prototype device, providing a firsthand peek at your newest offering. Answer questions and interact with your customers to show them you’re connected and engaged with them.

Go Behind the Scenes

Another way to connect with followers is to take them on a trip behind the scenes. Whether it’s a quick tour of your personal life, or a sneak peek into what goes on behind the curtain, followers are always eager to know more.

A great way to kick off a behind the scenes tour is with a quick Q&A session. Letting followers ask the questions they’ve always wanted answered allows you to engage with them. You can also provide immediate insights into upcoming items and request feedback for them.

Real-Time Customer Support

Periscope is a fantastic tool to leverage a customer support strategy. Use this media platform to change the way your customers view their support experience. One key feature to focus on is the ability for Periscope to record content. This allows your customers to play a video back at a later time, which is extremely helpful when correcting an issue takes multiple steps.

Brand Decisions

To boost customer loyalty, let them have a decision in the development or design of your product. Including followers in the decision-making is a great way to make them feel invested in your products.

Involve followers by allowing them to vote on a particular feature, or start a brainstorming session around a new product. By being a part of the creation process, customers are more likely to turn to you for other options for their future needs.

Create Tutorials

In addition to live-streaming new products and services, or going behind the scenes, you can use Periscope to offer a real-time tutorial or training session. When you teach someone something for free, you are viewed as an expert in your field and gain instant credibility.

This has a twofold impact. First, you’re showing that you know your industry, which will create more follows and brand loyalty. Second, you’re showing what it’s like to work with you and your business, which will result in inquiries from other clients or companies.

Live Events

We’ve mentioned that you can use Periscope to live stream product launches and released, but you can also use it to showcase live events. This can be something as simple as an impromptu question and answer session, or a planned panel discussion with industry leaders.

When used correctly, Periscope is a useful tool for driving both customer growth and consumer loyalty. But don’t just stick with what you’ve seen or heard. Find new and innovative ways for Periscope to work for you and your business.

Periscope isn’t as popular as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram…yet. This is your opportunity to create unique and different content for your customers. Pioneer new relationships with your followers and show them something they’ve never seen before. Check out DFY’s lead generation system for additional tools.

Manage Your Audience with MailChimp

The foundation of every great marketing campaign is a clean, reliable list of contacts who are engaged and have permitted you to contact them. MailChimp allows you to store and manage these lists and gives you the tools you need to grow your audience.

You can create as many lists as you want, but the easiest way to maintain the information is to create one list and then use segments and groups to keep them organized based on the criteria you choose.

Managing Lists

Each contact you enter into MailChimp has their own profile containing social data, location, history, and other information that may be useful for segmenting or targeting. Maintaining one manageable list of all of your contacts is far more accessible than creating multiple lists based on specific criteria because people are continually changing and evolving. Your list will do the same as your contacts become more familiar with your product, grow their own business, or create a history of using your product.

MailChimp provides list performance metrics as well, and maintaining one list allows you performance metrics across all of your contacts, regardless of segmentation, so that you can easily see at a glance subscriber activity, click rate, open rate, growth, and campaign performance.

Segmentshttps://go.socialaai.com/wms

MailChimp’s segmentation tools allow you to create targeted campaigns based on a number of factors, including interest, location, demographic information, activity, purchase history, and more. By doing this, you increase the relevance of your emails and drastically improve your open and click rates.

MailChimp allows for three different kinds of segments: auto-update, static, and pre-built.

Auto-update lists automatically update as new users meet the criteria you’ve selected for the list.

A static segment contains users that met a certain quality at the time you created the list. It does not auto update or move users in and out of the list based on whether they meet that criteria today.

Pre-built lists allow you to automatically generate a list based on information you select in advance. MailChimp will move subscribers in and out of the list as they meet or no longer meet the criteria, enabling you to target these customers with just one click.

Groups

You can also set up groups to categorize people by their interests or preferences. For example, if you own a software as a service company, and you have a list of customers who have requested specific feature updates, you can categorize them as such, and then update them as these things become available at the click of a button, without having to remember which customers requested which features.

Sign Up Forms

Sign up forms help to improve your target marketing by allowing potential subscribers to opt-in and easily enter their information and preferences from a number of devices. Automating the signup process gives you more time to create your campaigns while it works to build your lists with the appropriate subscribers.

MailChimp will also allow you to set up Facebook Custom Audiences, letting you target your MailChimp subscribers with Facebook ads that are relevant to them. The Facebook Custom Audiences feature syncs directly with your MailChimp lists and is available to any business advertising on Facebook.

Automate Your Marketing

With all of these features at your disposal, MailChimp is the perfect way to build and grow your email marketing campaign. It’s easy to use, dynamic when you need it to be and allows for customization that other platforms don’t. You’ll find managing your lists fast and straightforward, and it will give you more time to focus on the content of your campaigns rather than who you’re sending them to. For more information, check out DFY’s lead generation system.

Business Marketing with an Instagram Photo Contest

An Instagram photo contest is a great way to promote your business while having some fun. A photo contest can lead to new followers while your company is giving back to the Instagram community.

But running an Instagram photo contest isn’t always easy, and can be a bit confusing. Here is a short guide on getting the most out of a photo contest, should you choose to do so.

Target Your Market

Define your target market before kicking off your photo contest. A contest for families who enjoy camping is going to look a lot different than couples who look for new and exciting places to visit in the city. Determine who you intend to engage with, and gear your contest toward them.

Team Up

Finding a partner for your Instagram photo contest can be a benefit for both businesses. Not only can you gain more followers through this method, but you’ll also receive additional exposure. Most of these types of partnerships require participants to be followers of both accounts before they can enter. Keep things simple though. There’s no need to team up with more than one business per contest.

Avoid Confusion

Make sure your rules for entering and participating in your photo contest are clear and concise. Include an ending date and time, and offer step-by-step instructions for participants, including limitations on number of entries.

Call to Action

Provide your followers a clear call to action, so that they are fully aware of the necessary steps required to enter the contest. The primary purpose of your photo contest is to gain followers or increase your exposure (but make sure you have fun too!). The two most common ways to go about doing this is to have contestants tag a friend or post a picture.

Tag a Friend – For this type of call to action, have participants tag a friend to enter the contest. When the friend sees your post and competition, they will join and tag more friends.

Post a Photo – Contestants with this type of call to action post a photo and use a specific hashtag to enter. This will allow you to track the entries, and pick a winner when the time comes.

Keep an Eye on Submissions

This is your contest, so it would behoove you to be aware of how it’s progressing. Decide how you’ll monitor your contest, whether manually or by using one of the many tools available for just such an occasion. Decide beforehand how you plan on following your contest, so you’re not scrambling to decide while submissions are rolling in.

Declare a Winner

When your contest comes to a close, it’s time to pick a winner. Some contests use a poll, while others may use a group of judges. No matter what method you choose, select a winner and notify them through Instagram.

Promote the winner on your Instagram page, but don’t forget to give credit where credit is due. Cross-promote on other platforms. Announce the results on your Twitter, Facebook, and web pages as well.

Repeat as Needed

Running an Instagram photo contest doesn’t have to be a one-time occurrence. You can have a weekly or monthly contest. Explore your options, find what works best for your company and adjust as needed. Discover a way to build habits with your followers while creating momentum with your contests.

Instagram photo contests are an excellent opportunity to have fun with the platform while building up a following. Be creative and engaging with your contests to have the most success. Not only will you expand your audience, but you’ll also have fresh content that may inspire your next photo contest. For more tips, check out DFY’s lead generation system

What Is People-Based Marketing?

Marketing is all about reaching people and all marketers want to find out how to reach the greatest amount of people with the smallest amount of effort. This often means sending the same generic message to hundreds, if not thousands, or people. However, everyone is unique and therefore has unique needs. What is relevant to one person might not be relevant to the next. It’s hard to be that brand that appeals to everyone since each person is so different. This is where people-based marketing comes in.

What It Is

 People-based marketing represents the original promise of digital and internet marketing; it allows you to replace your broadcast with personalized messages and experiences that the consumer wants to see. It allows brands to establish a marketing system centred around the individual consumer and utilize plenty of data to track that person’s behaviour and spending habits. People-based marketing strategies revolve around the consumer and all marketing efforts are aligned to fit their needs.

One company that utilizes people-based marketing very well is Spotify. Users stream music for several hours a day, often depending on their mood. Listening habits change when the user is relaxing, driving, or exercising and Spotify tracks all this data.

Spotify’s algorithms help create customized and personalized experiences for its users. It will recommend new releases that the listener might enjoy, create personalized playlists based on listening habits, and even remind users of music that they haven’t listened to in a while. These features make users feel like Spotify is tuned into their specific wants and needs.

The best way to utilize a people-based marketing strategy is by paying attention to the three main elements:

Identification

 This is the first and most important part of people-based marketing. Without any identification, everyone you’re trying to target might as well be a nameless and faceless person.

Cookies used to be the main method of tracking internet users, but this method is slowly becoming outdated. More people are using multiple devices, especially smartphones, to connect to the internet and much of this information cannot be tracked using cookies.

One of the main ways to identify people is with deterministic targeting which targets users based on accounts and email addresses. For example, Amazon can track what someone doing whether they’re using a desktop browser, mobile app, Kindle, or Alexa since it requires them to use the same account for all platforms.

Another strategy is called probabilistic targeting which uses data analysis to link devices based on things like location and IP addresses. For example, if a computer and a smartphone are both connected to the same home Wi-Fi address, it’s a possibility that both devices are owned by the same person.

Data

You want to find out the most you can about your consumer by collecting data. You can use identifiers such as email addresses to dig up all sorts of information about their habits. This includes, but isn’t limited to, what devices they use, what they like and share on social media, who they follow on social media, what they’ve purchased, what product reviews they’re read or written, which products they’ve looked at, and how often they spend.

Automation

 Lastly, automation is what will make your life easier. You probably have received several automated marketing emails in your life, many of which were tailored to your personal needs. Common automated emails you might’ve received are:

• Telling you events or products you might be interested in based on your history
• Telling you that your shopping cart isn’t empty
• Telling you when an item is restocked
• Asking you if the product arrived on time
• Asking you if the product was in satisfactory condition
• Asking you how much you liked the product
• Asking you to leave a review

Conclusion

 People-based marketing is the future of marketing. You should strive to aim for individuals rather than masses for a more effective marketing strategy.

One easy way to do this is to use an identity resolution service like LiveRamp IdentityLink which helps identify consumers and track their habits. You should also utilize digital marketing platforms to keep a database of consumers and track their unique habits.

It’s not a stretch to say that people-based marketing can completely transform how your company reaches out to consumers and makes sales. If you’d like more access to invaluable marketing strategies, check out my done-for-you system.

Suresh@socialaai.com

Online Marketing Myths You Probably Believe

Marketing online is already incredibly difficult. Sure, you have the entirety of the internet to appeal to, but it also means that you’re competing against countless other online marketers. The internet is a vast place and standing out against a sea of competitors isn’t an easy feat, but a successful online marketing campaign can easily bring you the customers you’re looking for.

Unfortunately, many marketers are far too misguided about what they think works and doesn’t work on the internet. Many marketers go barking up the wrong tree so to speak and end up wasting time and resources on fruitless endeavors. Here are just a few commonly held myths that end up hurting marketers:

Myth #1: We need to be on as many social media platforms as possible.

It’s true that you certainly want to get your message out to as many people as possible, but not all audiences equally deserve your attention. There are countless social media platforms to take advantage of–Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.—but that doesn’t mean you need to use all of them.

Each social media platform has a different audience and those audiences are all interested in different things. Do you think a company like Tastemade that markets by making cooking videos would have as much success on LinkedIn as they do on Facebook? Would a company for elderly people like Life Alert want to market on Snapchat where 71% of its members are under 34?

Rather than trying to spread yourself thin, choose the most ideal platforms and focus your efforts there. You can expand your marketing efforts when you can acquire more overhead, but it’s best to play to your strengths while still starting out.

Myth #2: My company needs to be #1 on SEO results for important keywords.

SEO can be a difficult game to play and it’s never easy to get to the top of a Google search for popular keywords. For example, if you are running a shoe store, it would be very nice to be the first result when someone types “shoes” into Google.

However, it might be more beneficial and realistic to aim for mastering long tail keywords—that is longer and more specific phrases. Long tail keywords make up 70% of Google searches and generally indicate that a consumer is more willing to convert and purchase than a short tail generic search.

For example, “shoes” is a short tail keyword that might be used for someone who’s simply browsing the internet while someone who uses long tail keywords like “black dress shoes,” “good running shoes,” “cheap sneakers,” or “sandals for summer” are probably ready to buy.

Myth #3: This other company is doing it, so, why can’t we?

It’s tempting to look at successful companies and try and imitate what they’re doing. Sometimes it works such as when Instagram copies Snapchat’s story features and ended up beating Snapchat at their own game. However, this isn’t always the case.

Take the example of the Amazon Fire Phone: Amazon’s short-lived attempt at entering the smartphone market. The phone’s multiple flaws and inability to stand up to Samsung or Apple means that its obituary was written rather quickly. On the other hand, Amazon has been instrumental in killing Borders and has companies like Sears, Macy’s, and Best Buy on the ropes.

The takeaway is that what works for one company doesn’t work for everyone else. If it did, every company would be doing the same thing. You have a different audience, different brand, different mission, and a different set of values. Find your own unique voice.

Myth #4: Email is dead. Long live the new social media king.

Social media might be the new big thing, but don’t count out email just yet. Believe it or not, a study from McKinsey & Company found that companies acquire new customers via email 40 times more than they do on Facebook and Twitter combined.  The study also found that 91% of consumers check their email every day, make purchases three times more often via email than via social media, and that they order 17% more when ordering via email.

Clearly, there is a lot of misinformation in the air as to how online marketing should be done. Knowing what works and what doesn’t work can mean the difference between life and death for your company. For more handy internet marketing tips, check out my done-for-you system.

Suresh@socialaai.com