Kevin Kemp – WSI Digital Marketing Consultant

Blogging can be a very intimidating task, especially when you are just starting out.  There are some key things you need to remember when putting together your first blog and building your new marketing strategy. 1) Don’t worry about length - I frequently hear people ask – how long should it be?  300 words, 500 words, like an article, etc?  There is no hard and fast rule regarding the length.  What you need to remember is that the blog should be well-organized and focus on one subject... (more...)

Mobile marketing is increasing at a rapid rate with some estimates having it reach $2.6 billion this year. eMarketer truly believes that this growth will continue $11 Billion by 2016.  While this is obviously a large opportunity it is important to understand the demographic that is most receptive to understand if it fits within your strategy.  Research by eMarketer showed that most men between the age of 18 to 29 were far more receptive to mobile marketing.  They generally liked to receive the... (more...)

Consumers have access to infinite amounts of information, whether it is about competitors, your brand, or consumer’s thoughts or experiences.  With all of this data flowing to potential clients, it is important that your strategy be ensuring consistent messaging across all marketing channels.  By ensuring your messaging is consistent across marketing channels, then you will be able to ensure the right message is being received. A strong cross-channel marketing plan starts with ensuring that you... (more...)

Many people question whether you use Social Media strategies for branding or customer acquisition.  Marketers have had differing opinions in the past, but now they are thinking that it is beneficial for both.  A study was completed by Wildfire Interactive, a social media marketing software company. Over 700 respondents told them that social media had driven brand awareness.  Even more interesting was that 85% said it allowed them to engage in dialogue with customers and 58% said it increased sales... (more...)

Google launched Google+ in 2011 for two main reasons: 1) to enter into the social media world with a strong offering and 2) Google Buzz was a bust. If you think about who can influence search engine results faster, Google + is definitely the leader. Preliminary results have shown strong growth capturing 40 million users already – 1/3 the size of LinkedIn at 135 million. It still lags behind the 800 million users on Facebook, but it is climbing fast. Google+ allows businesses to create pages... (more...)

Part of the power of social media is the ability to have your fans promote your brand, product, or business name. While all of us are using Twitter and Facebook to promote our brands, the struggle is to get our fans to talk about it. AYTM Market Research found that 57.8% of US Facebook users had not mentioned a brand in their status updates. The good news, only 0.5% actually made negative comments. When looking at Twitter they found 61.3% of users have not tweeted about a brand. Again, a very... (more...)

A report showed that mobile shopping, including travel, grew by 91% to reach over $6 billion dollars in the US alone. As more and more consumers are using Smartphones and other mobile devices, this trend is expected to continue. Some estimates have it as high as $31 billion by 2015. This excludes purchases made on tablets, which is definitely on the rise as well. A few factors such as increased confidence, increase usage, and the growing demographic that is using the technology is continuing... (more...)

Twitter originally started as a simple tool for people to easily communicate with each other. By 2011 it has changed into a much larger, successful social media tool. Celebrities, companies, political leaders, and executives use it for many different reasons. Many of the people I meet with always ask how can a business use Twitter. There are many uses for Twitter, some of these include: 1) Market Research – engaging with followers allows companies to gather instant feedback. Ask questions,... (more...)

The growth of social media for business is one of the hottest topics I deal with on a daily basis. Most business leaders question the value for a B2B business, but openly acknowledge the benefit for B2C businesses. A study by Accenture reflects this common discussion. Based on their research only 7% felt they were heavily engaged in social media. Their biggest concern with entering the new marketing world – fear of having to go through the learning curve. The big opportunity lies in understanding... (more...)

Many people are trying to determine if they should use pay-per-click programs on search engines or also in social media. PPC is the ability to bid on keywords and have immediate exposure on the first page. First you must decide what the objective is for the campaign. We tell clients there are generally three main reasons that you would want to do PPC: 1) immediate exposure and drive sales, 2) branding, or 3) consumer research. If you are looking at doing it for sales, then a return on investment... (more...)