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Great SEO Basics

stephanie@create24-7.com (Stephanie Nakano) — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 19:49:59 GMT

SEO for Dummies, 6th Edition

SEO FOR DUMMIES CHEAT SHEET

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a strange business. It’s full of conjecture, misinformation, and snake oil. SEO businesses are 80 percent scam, so if you hire someone to do it for you, you’ve got one chance in five of things going well. Therefore, you need to understand the basics of SEO so that you can either create a search engine–friendly website yourself or find a firm that knows what it’s doing.

What is Marketing? A Beginner's Guide to Marketing

_dm_templates@dudamobile.com (John Miller) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT

By Laura Lake

Updated June 09, 2017

Marketing is the process of teaching consumers why they should choose your product or service over your competitors. If you are not doing that, you are not marketing. It’s that simple! The key is finding the right marketing method and defining the right marketing message to use to educate and influence your consumers.

Companies make the mistake of thinking that marketing is just “one” thing, but marketing is everything that the consumer encounters when it comes to your business, from advertising, to what they hear, to the customer service that they receive, to the follow-up care that you provide.

It’s all marketing and creating the decision within the consumer whether or not to choose you initially or for repeat business.

Marketing is often confused with advertising and sales, but it is important to know the key differences. These articles will give you a better understanding of marketing, advertising, and sales roles:

Marketing vs. Advertising: What's the Difference?

Marketing vs. Sales: What is the Difference?

That said, let's take a closer look at what marketing is and how it's used.

How Is Marketing Defined?

On the first day in many Marketing 101 courses, professors often define "marketing" as "all the processes involved in getting a product or service from the manufacturer or seller to the ultimate consumer." It includes creating the product or service concept, identifying who is likely to purchase it, promoting it and moving it through the proper selling channels.

How Can You Identify Marketing?

Marketing is best identified using what are called the 4 P's or a mix of marketing: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.

Starting with products, companies have many procedures they must undertake to ensure their products are ready for selling. The first stage is called the "ideation stage," where the idea for the product is conceived. Then, marketing departments usually test new product concepts with focus groups and surveys to ascertain interest levels among potential buyers.

If the interest level is high, marketers may then sell products on a limited basis to track sales. If product sales are high, products are then rolled out on a national level. Before products go to the market, companies must decide what styles, sizes, flavors, and scents they should sell and the packaging designs they should use. Consumers have much input in these decisions.

Price is also tested through focus groups and surveys. Companies must know the optimal price to sell their products to achieve maximum return. One way to determine price is to set it at a level comparable to competitors; that is if the company can recover all associated product expenses and still make a profit. If the company is introducing a new product that has never existed, they must determine how much the consumer is willing to pay for it. Customers will only pay so much for products. Price a product higher, and sales can drop off exponentially.

Promotion pertains to brochures, ads, and information which companies use to generate interest in their products. For more complex concepts, like spas or computers, companies may promote their wares at trade shows. Promotions usually have two purposes: generate leads for sales reps or initiate actual purchases.

Place in marketing nomenclature is the distribution. It is how and where products are sold. Consumer product companies, for example, sell to wholesalers who, in turn, sell to retailers. In the industrial market, the buying process is longer and involves more decision makers. Some companies also sell products or services on a local level, while others sell nationally and even internationally. All distribution decisions are part of the overall marketing process.

What Is the Purpose of Marketing?

Business consultant Evan Carmichael's does a great job of identifying the three main purpose of marketing:

Capture the attention of a target market.
Facilitate the prospect's purchasing decision.
Provide the customer with a specific, low-risk and easy-to-take action.

With these purposes in mind, coupons, sales and even merchandising, or how products are displayed, are part of the marketing process.

Since marketing is the cornerstone of every business, the overall objective is to sell more products or services.

Do You Know the Different Types of Marketing?

Print, radio, and television advertising are types of marketing, as are direct mail and Internet marketing. Companies that sell via the Internet optimize their web pages, so they appear higher in search engines like Google and Yahoo. Newsletters, press releases, and articles are forms of marketing used to generate leads and orders. Some companies use referral marketing to increase business, where satisfied customers refer others to a particular business. More recently, social media marketing is becoming a type of marketing that smart companies can't avoid when it comes to reaching potential buyers, whether it's advertising on Facebook or posting advice on Twitter with links to a website.

All told, marketing is anything that informs, interests and gets people to make purchase decisions.

No, Not All Marketers Are Created Equal.

_dm_templates@dudamobile.com (John Miller) — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 16:13:10 GMT

7 TYPES OF MARKETERS AND THEIR COMMON TRAITS

Targeting an audience of buyers should be a part of every small business strategy. Targeting the perfect marketer to help you market to the target audience is just as important. There are many different types of marketers, and it’s important to know what type of marketer you should target for your strategy, that compliments your business model.

Small business owners, marketing managers, brand managers, or whoever has control of the marketing for a product, often fall into common patterns of thinking when they lay out their marketing vision. These thought patterns are fascinating because they can tell you a lot about what type of marketers you should approach for your project. Being in the marketing industry, I’ve compiled a list of all the different marketers that I’ve worked with or have witnessed over the years.

The Frugal Believer

This marketer loves craigslist and any other form of free marketing. They are disgusted with agency prices and will demand disproportionate value from every five bucks they spend. They often run businesses with sloppy brand images and survive very well on their obsessive cost leadership strategy, offering the lowest price for a descent or average product. Word of mouth is their savior.

People may love the products, but they love the price even more. This is a delicate balance, because there’s a fine line between a brand that says “cost leader” and one that says “cheap.”

The One Hit Wonder

Occasionally you’ll see a product do very well with only one type of marketing. This can make the marketer believe that all the focus should be just on this one technique. This is one of the riskiest ways to market a business because if that form of marketing suddenly becomes less effective the product will go down with it.

Having all of your eggs in one basket is high risk, but there is always the possibility of high rewards – at least for a little while. The one hit wonder can be really, and I mean really, good in one area, but if the marketing trends leave them behind, they won’t be able to provide much value in the future.

The Sprinter

The sprinter is the marketer that wants the big jump in conversions, traffic, or leads right now. Not tomorrow, now. Unfortunately, the sprinter is also the person that digs for gold and, just three feet away from success, stops digging because they’re discouraged or not satisfied with their results after digging the first two feet. The sprinter will occasionally tap into marketing channels that will deliver quick results, although it is slightly rare.

The sprinter is common among entrepreneurs and business owners because they struggle with patience, are hungry and results-driven, and they want success fast. Sprinters can be guilty of spammy tactics online, but this type of marketer is good for promotional strategies and can often be found in the PR industry.

The Marathon Marketer

This marketer is perfect for branding a company. They understand that the little wins are what make the brand great in the long run. Marathon marketers may not produce the best results upfront but overtime can be the perfect solution for companies that have a long-term vision. They focus on quality, they’re not cheap, and it can be difficult for the business owner or manager to see their value in the first few months when the ROI is very slim or non-existent.

Businesses should really consider their long-term strategy before they hire a marketer like this. Marketing agencies are often in this group, but so are individuals who have plenty of experience marketing a brand.

The Well-Rounded Marketer

The well-rounded marketer is usually looking for every single opportunity to market a business. They tap into, and test, everything they can before bailing on a marketing channel. They’re risk takers, but they understand the field of marketing far better than anyone who specializes in one area. They can employ that marathon mentality when they see something working, but since they don’t specialize in one specific area it can be difficult for them to know the details and depth of one area of marketing.

For small businesses, this can be the best route to go because they can take advantage of every opportunity available for your business – as long as it is affordable and profitable. The well-rounded marketer is capable of driving great results with a combination of long-term branding and willingness to consider new options.

The Super Creative Marketer

The super creative marketer is usually design- or content-focused. They specialize in viral marketing and can be beneficial to almost any business and brand. The pitfall for the creatives is they can fall out of conversion mode and end up appealing to fluffy traffic that won’t provide any real value. At the same time, you don’t want them conversion or profit focused because that hinders their creativity. Traditionally these marketers were found at creative boutiques. They can be very valuable for branding.

These traits are also common in social media marketers, article marketers, video marketers, or designers. They’re great for branding a business but might struggle when it comes to building ROI. If they aren’t artistic, they can provide super creative ideas for an artist or writer to play with.

These marketers can be rare, but marketing agencies find ways to bring them under their umbrella. It can be hard for creatives to focus, they tend to be all over the place, but remember that’s what makes them great.

The Analytical Technical Marketer

The analytical marketer can be rather annoying to the creative marketer, but will be the finance department and CEO’s best friend. These marketers look deep into the analytics to find the issues that need fixing, and they can get extremely excited every time they find something new.

These marketers are pragmatic individuals and use their logical and emotional hemispheres of their brain in their work. This personality type is most likely your best manager if you’re going in-house. If they work at an agency, they will probably be in a management position, as well. They use every tool available to them and will always sell their wins even when they’re losing.

They are comfortable using code and html, even if they can’t build a website, and they are often found in the SEO industry. If they were to run in race, they would choose a fast two to three miles instead of a slow 26-mile run or super-fast 40-yard run.

Conclusion

Every business is different, which means every marketing strategy should be different. It’s vital that managers and entrepreneurs know what traits will work best for their business and hire the agency or people that will complement their strategy and overall vision for their products.

Written by Jonathan Goudy

https://www.seo.com/blog/marketing-blog/7-types-marketers-common-traits/