The Great Gender Debate

Recently I read an article that should make small businesses who have ventured into the world of online advertising start to think if they have correctly positioned their marketing dollars. The article reported on the differing Internet habits of men and women. It pointed to various studies that have found gender, more than race, ethnicity or economic status, is the major driving force behind our browsing styles. However, the article was quick to point out that Internet Protocol addresses (IP addresses) do not “come in shades of pink and blue.” Therefore, businesses advertising online have come to depend on gender generalizations when placing advertisements. But, these generalizations aren't always on target.

"Smart companies use behavioral targeting to try to reach their desired target demo online, but even then, they can't tell who exactly is behind the IP addresses they are following," says Lisa Phillips, an eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report "Men Online” in an article for Fortune magazine.

So how can you determine which sites attract your consumer base – specifically when you target a gender? Do the research! Meet with your account representatives and ask for detailed demographic information for their site. Create a simple survey for customers to complete concerning their media habits – what sites do they frequent most? Which sites are most influential in their purchasing decisions? If you keep it short and simple, most customers won’t mind taking the time to fill it out.

Advertising is still the best way to stay top-of-mind with your customers in this down economy. Just be sure you aren’t throwing your dollars away on sites that do not attract your audience.

Check out the complete article for more interesting gender-based marketing findings. http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/20/technology/kattan_gender.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009052011

Need assistance creating an effective advertising campaign that incorporates online marketing? Contact ProMoter Inc. at 502-562-1969 or email us at promoter@promoterinc.com.

Why NOT to Leave the Tweeting to the Birds

If you are leaving the “Twittering” and the “tweeting” to the birds, you are missing out on the newest (and very efficient) way of building brand recognition and generating brand conversation among your customers.

Twitter has been touted as the new email and has marketers reeling about its potential to help catapult sales and customer loyalty to all time highs. And, it couldn’t be easier to use! Setting up a profile is easy and “tweeting” is a simple as typing a few sentences and hitting an “update” button. Additionally, because it is a free service, all it costs you is the human power you put behind your Twitter presence.  

Naked Pizza, a New Orleans-based pizza joint, discovered the power of Twitter among its followers when they offered an exclusive-to-Twitter promotion. The results? 15% of the day’s sales were Twitter-generated.

Twitter is also an effective means of monitoring what is being said about your company and brand. Using its search feature, you have the ability to type in your company’s name, products, competitors, etc. and discover what is being said through the Twitter grapevine. While ProMoter Inc. doesn’t have a Twitter account of our own, we monitor the site for client mentions to ensure we are staying on top of the online conversation.

Looking for more details on how to organize your Twitter account, find followers and tweet effectively? Check out this blog post created by Laurie Dunlop of NetStrategies. It gives a variety of beneficial links and tools to use to optimize your Twitter experience! http://www.netstrategies.com/blog/uncategorized/2009/05/twitter-toolkit-for-beginners#more-314

Need help crafting an online marketing presence using Twitter and other social media tools? Contact ProMoter Inc. at 502-562-1969 or email us at promoter@promoterinc.com.  

SEO: Uncovering the truth behind the latest craze in Internet marketing

The recent social media boom has created quite a mad dash for companies to get their name and brand on the Internet and in search results leading to a surge in the SEO business. While search engine optimization is very important to your business if you want to have a valuable presence on the Internet, many small businesses just don’t have the expertise in this burgeoning department. Please take caution when employing an SEO firm to increase your company ranking. Some SEO firms – not the reputable ones – will use deceptive and unethical tricks to bump your site’s rankings, and, while this may work in the short term (bringing your site lots of traffic), your site could be banned from search engines essentially making your site worthless. When hiring an SEO company, please try to avoid deceptive SEO tactics by following these guidelines provided by Google.

• Watch out for those SEO firms who guarantee a #1 ranking.
• Beware of SEO firms who contact you first.
• Avoid SEO firms who do not clearly explain their operating tactics or who are secretive about how their company works.
• Be sure to understand where your money is going. You can’t buy better rankings from the search engines. Ask your SEO provider to differentiate between pay-per-click and SEO.

For many small businesses, SEO is still an unchartered frontier. Check out the link below for a more detailed explanation of what to look out for when hiring an SEO firm. Don’t forget that your best line of defense against rogue SEO firms is to arm yourself with the facts about SEO and competitive firms in your area.
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35291

While SEO is not our area of expertise, we can help you uncover the truths behind the popular practice and assist you in locating a reputable SEO firm that can get your company results on the Internet. Call us at 502-562-1969.