Mashable has put together a great infographic on the success of Twitter and it’s path to 1 Billion Tweets. Continue reading here.
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The latest popular online trend in businesses online appears to be social and group buying of daily specials in your local area.
Websites like Groupon and LivingSocial have become very successful by applying this business model to special deals. Group is valued at about $1 billion only after a year of operation with many new locations added to their website.
The websites make use of social media sharing, such as Facebook Connect to spread the specials through visitors’ circles of friends. This not only broadens the exposure of each special, but gives it a personal recommendation from each person that posts it.
It will be interesting to watch what other social equipped businesses launch in the future.
Whenever you see that little pink note stuck to someones car window, you can’t help but have a little laugh and say it serves them right. Although as soon as it’s found on your own car, you heart sinks and anger sets in while you try think of excuses to try get out of a decent sized parking fine.
This emotional response by people towards traffic fines presented the perfect marketing opportunity for FmyFine to engage with potential customers.
I was walking to my car, which was perfectly parked in a bay designed for a car and saw the little pink slip stuck to my window. I really had a hard time understanding why I had been fined and almost gave the nearby car guard a hard time about it too. Upon closer inspection of the fine, it turned out to be a witty marketing stunt by FmyFine.
Having your brand associated with laughter and a feeling of relief is more than some brands could wish for.
FmyFine.co.za is a website designed at providing customers with high quality excuses for lowering or getting out of their traffic fines.
These ads are brilliant examples of how creativity in advertising can not only capture the attention of consumers, but also make them decide between illusion and reality.
The following example was sourced from The Cool Hunter website.
The game of marketing has changed fundamentally. Taking out uninspiring, run-of-the-mill print and TV ads doesn’t fly any more. Marketing a brand effectively requires exceptional ideas and concepts that are entertaining and unusual enough to capture the imaginations of today’s cynical, ad-wary consumers. Our advice is to go beyond the traditional media to capture your audience in other platforms as well – offline brand experiences that DEMAND consumer attention.
This interesting animation video by RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.
The simple thing is that people listen to what their peers, colleagues and clients have to say about brands and companies. It’s either going to be good, bad or an ongoing form of gossip about ever move your company makes, all depending on where you are in the market and if your company fits into a social segment.
How to create a viral element
There’s no formula to create word of mouth marketing, but there are methods that can create the platform: Continue reading “Building a Word of Mouth Platform” »
You may have a website that receives thousands of visits, great pageviews and low bounce rates… but that doesn’t mean that they are going to purchase.
If shoppers find it hard or confusing to get to the checkout, they’re simply going to leave.
It’s the same in a retail store – Shoppers aren’t going to buy anything if the store is a mess, signage is poor and the queues are too long.
Here are a few tips to improve your online customer experience:
1. Have good navigation and search
If you have lots of products on sale, you need to make them easy to find. Using a search engine or clever product and category navigation can make items easier to find.
2. Don’t make them register
Unless you’re selling memberships and need lots of customer details, then you’re not going to win over customers who want a quick purchase. Email addresses and mobile numbers are not easily handed over, so decide which is more important.
3. Give them an idea on time
It’s a good idea to show how far into the checkout process the customer is. This can be done using graphics to indicate the level of progress.
4. Make your website secure
Your website will need to make shoppers feel safe about handing over their credit card number and postal address. SSL certificates or a VeriSign logo can help ease the minds of cautious shoppers.
5. Confirm the sale
A notice of confirmation and an email showing the order form and number are crucial. This step will also help reduce the number of queries you receive from unsure customers.
Here is a presentation covering all the key information for the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which is kicking off in less than two months.
It’s going to get very busy in South Africa and it’s important for businesses to be ready for the world.
You can view or download the presentation here.
Google Docs provides great free solutions for businesses, especially small companies and start-ups which don’t always have the budget for enterprise solutions.
The improved cloud software solves realtime collaberation issues and makes document sharing simple.
There is now no need to email off a document to five people and have to manually update the changes when you receive five documents back.
Watch the video to see the features in action or visit Google Docs.
We offer affordable and custom solutions for mystery shopping and market research services