BroadVision Marketing Blog

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Classified Ad"] [/caption]

We are still looking at the basics in advertising.  We all agree that advertisers are people who pay money to put up a message though a medium, including digital media, physical advertising, online, and product placement. Let’s take a closer look at digital advertising, physical advertising and promotions.

Digital advertising

Television commercials are “The” most efficient mass-marketing advertising platform. That’s why they cost the big bucks, especially during popular airtime, like prime time or the Super Bowl football game. In 2009 the single 30 second spot during the game cost its advertiser $3 million. Besides just showing the ad, the advertiser includes a song or jingle that help people remember the product. Virtual advertisements on television are interesting phenomena. They are mostly used at sporting events where the backdrop has computer graphics that changes as different products are displayed.

Topics: Using Different Media, Advertising, Marketing and Advertising, Super Bowl, Email lists, Product placement, blog, Marketing Plan, Facebook, Social Media, Marketing Principles, Business, Branding, Marketing strategy

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Advertising from 1890s"] [/caption]

Since we have been having conversations about large businesses taking over social media as an advertising platform, I think it’s time to back up a bit and consider the basics of advertising.

What is advertising? Advertising is a way to persuade a targeted group to do something in regard to ideas, services or products.  It can take many different communications forms. The purpose is to drive the targeted group into behaving in a certain way. Advertising can be about buying products, but also about things like selecting a political side and voting.  The driving force pays for the advertising and places it in mass media settings, including but not limited to television commercials, direct mail, magazine, newspapers, bill boards and, of course, social media websites, email and text messages.

Topics: marketing, Using Different Media, Advertising, Marketing and Advertising, United States, Television advertisement, marketing mix, Marketing Plan, Social Media, Marketing Principles, Business

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There are days when I wonder how I am going to get through the day. Others when I wonder what I did all day. After a few of those, I realized that I needed to be better organized; and I began keeping a working calendar.

Here are some of the tips I was given that have helped me keep the calendar working for me instead of it becoming yet another thing I tried and dropped.

Take time every day, either at the end of the day or first thing, and build a list of things To Do. Just what are these things?

Topics: Time management, Tasks, Marketing Plan, Social Media, Business, Marketing strategy

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Story Time"] [/caption]

Are you still worried about spending too much time writing your blog and not enough time doing your work? Not to worry, there are still some more good ideas around.

Let’s take a quick look at why you need some good ideas. First, there is the fact that you want to be consistent about publishing.  Your readers will quit coming to your site if you don’t put up work in a timely fashion. Whether you write three times a week or once a month, you need to be there when they come. People get very put out when they look up information and are sent to sites that haven’t been active for years.

Topics: WordPress, Arts, blog, Marketing Plan, Facebook, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Marketing Principles, LinkedIn, Business Owner, Business, Blogging, Twitter

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="216" caption="Jewelry Shop"] [/caption]

Do you think that content is more important than the headline? Many people would agree with you or at least agree that both are of equal importance. Since this is so and this blog has explored writing good headlines, it’s time to give content attention.

Sometimes it seems like writing content is actually harder than just running your business. At least with your business you understand what your clients want because they will tell you loud and clear. In blogging you cannot even be sure that anyone is reading. In your shop you understand cash flow, both in and out. When you blog you get all sorts of analytics, except the one that tells you the number of people who came into the shop because of what you wrote.

Topics: Writing, Pet store, blog, Marketing Plan, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Marketing Principles, Business Owner, Business, Blogging

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="245" caption="Facebook logo"] [/caption]

Does Facebook overwhelm you? Do you have a daily schedule of what to do on Facebook to help you get results from Facebook?

Facebook marketing, when you know what you are doing, is a powerful business tool that can get you more leads, attract prospects that are highly targeted and put you in a position as an industrial expert.

Topics: Using Different Media, Online Communities, Fans, Social Networking, Facebook, Social Media, Marketing Principles, Business, Twitter

By Guest Blogger Ann Mullen  I still remember the first time I came upon the term swipe file. It seems like it was just yesterday. Wait, it was just yesterday.

For the sake of those of us who weren’t around the last time the term was used, which was in 2009, Wikipedia defines a swipe files as “a collection of tested and proven advertising and sales letters. Keeping a swipe file (templates) is a common practice used by advertising copywriters and creative directors as a ready reference of ideas for projects….Swipe files are a great jumping-off point for anybody who needs to come up with lots of ideas.

Swipe files are also commonly used by Internet Marketers who need to gather a lot of resources not only about products but also about marketing methods and strategies.”

A lot of times the swipe file is for various headlines.

Still confused? Here is an example of a swipe file headline: 10 Exercise Tips to Use Without Moving a Muscle. The main swipe part is the idea: (Some Number) of Tips to Do (Something). In other words it’s the old Snake Oil Routine.

Topics: marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Wikipedia, Headlines, Headline, Swipe file, Snake oil, Social Media, Business, Blogging

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Early blog machine"] [/caption]

At a Chamber of Commerce meeting recently someone mentioned that they were using niche blogging, but you didn’t have a chance to ask what that was. So what is niche blogging?

You already have a blog set up for your business, but what would happen if you set up blogs that could be used in your business from different angles. In other words what if you took a vertical move and created more than one blog that crossed several industries? These multiple approaches are called niche blogging and are a way to greatly expand your influence.

Topics: Chamber of Commerce, Niche blogging, Social network service, blog, website, Marketing Plan, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Business, Blogging

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Blogging workflow"] [/caption]

You have decided to add a blog as a marketing method. You’ve looked at questions that help you focus what you want to say. But throughout all the studying you have done, you are not really sure what you are using blogging to accomplish.

Many companies use social media to “connect” with their customer by talking about what their company has been doing lately, information about their products and service and awards they have received.  These companies have missed the boat.

Topics: marketing, Using Different Media, Marketing and Advertising, Customer, Company, information, Web content, blog, inbound marketing, Marketing Plan, Social Media, Marketing Principles, Business, Blogging

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Now that you have decided to write a blog for your business, you go on line and ask Google to do a general search on your product. What’s this? There are millions of blogs on the internet and it looks like millions about your product. One look at the competition and you are tempted to head for the hills.

But don’t do that. You can compete if you spend the time to create informative blog posts. This is not just a business whim, but a strategic point of your marketing campaign. If you want to be successful, you have only to take the time and effort to write content about your product. Before you start you might want to spend time answering some questions that will help you develop your strategy and actually help you write.

Topics: marketing, Using Different Media, Marketing and Advertising, Google, Google Search, Customer, readers, social media strategy, product, informative posts, brand awareness, blog, clients, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Marketing Principles, Business, Branding, Blogging