So, your company is ready to “do” social media. Great!

But what does that mean, exactly?  Do you want to grow awareness for your business? Find and engage your customers and fans in conversation?  Or, maybe even generate some leads and sales?

Understanding what you want to accomplish with social media marketing is the first step in determining the best approach, and where you should invest your valuable time.

Our helpful guide will arm you with everything you need, including links to free and affordable social media tools, resources, and lots of best practices.  We’ve even included a list of some of the common pitfalls to avoid – so you can start marketing with social media with confidence!

Download a free copy of Leadtail’s Guide to Getting Started with Social Media.

Have other online marketing, advertising, and social media questions?  Check out the online marketing and advertising resources section of the Leadtail website.  We’ve compiled lots of other useful information to help you grow your business.

Or, you can always reach out to us directly by asking your question on Facebook or Twitter, dropping us a line, or giving us a call at 888.330.3236.

Want to reach 40 million consumers with one trillion dollars in buying power? Then consider advertising to the African American market. This is a vibrant, growing, consumer market with plenty of households making $100 thousand or more in annual income.

Have I convinced you yet? If so, then check out our list of the 35 Best Websites for Advertising to African Americans.

For example, this “best of” list features celebrity gossip and entertainment news sites including Bossip, The YBF, and (our friends) EurWeb; lifestyle sites such as Hello Beautiful, Madame Noir, and King-Mag.com; hip-hop music sites such as Vibe and Hip Hop Wired; and lots of (local and national) news sites like BlackAmericaWeb, Atlanta Post, and Chicago Defender.

So, plenty to choose from depending on the profile of your target audience!

The complete list of the Best Websites for Advertising to African Americans can be found on our Leadtail blog – Best Online Advertising Stuff.

So invest some advertising dollars in the African American market. And let us know which websites work best for you!

The lowly and misunderstood ad banner has been around since the dawn of the (commercial) Internet… and it’s still plugging away today. Even though newer and cooler forms of advertising like paid search, social media, and mobile advertising, have (seemingly) passed it by.

Why should you still care about banner ads? Well, for starters, brand advertising is coming back in vogue… shocking but true!

Seems that marketers have finally figured out what consumers have known all along – we buy from brands we’re familiar with! That’s why eMarketer now forecasts growth in online display ads (i.e., banner ads) will outstrip that for paid search through 2014.

Said another way, banner ads may not generate many clicks… but they do generate the kind of “awareness” that makes us: click on a brand’s link in search results, mention a brand to friends, and notice a brand when shopping (online or offline). All of which, sooner or later, results in the cash register ringing!

Here are six essential tips to building your brand with banner advertising:

• Bigger truly is better. The more website real estate you cover with your ad the better. This ensures that more people see your ad (whether they realize it or not) and are influenced by your brand message.

• Keep it moving. Our eyes are designed to notice small movements on a Web page. So get your ad moving, but do it in a way that engages not tricks (please, no blinking ads!). Maybe a graphic that builds or changes its message… you get the idea!

• Aim really high. Get your advertising as high up on the page as you can. More people will notice it plus it helps your chances of always being “above the fold”. This is why everyone competes for the number one slot in Google search results.

• Context is king. Design your advertising to fit in with the content and design of the website(s) your ad shows on. This keeps it from looking too much like advertising. Believe it or not, many prospects don’t like reading ads.

• Not a one-time shot. Building your brand takes time, so plan to keep your ads running for at least a few months… or as long as you can! Think about it. When was the last time you acted on an ad the first time you saw it. Never. That’s right.

• Change it up… but not too often. Prospects notice your advertising the first few times but then stop seeing it. So change up your ad every once in a while (think monthly). But be careful of changing too often… otherwise your brand message won’t sink in.

Now we’re not saying don’t do paid search, mobile marketing, or whatever the advertising flavor of the day is (iPad anyone?). We are saying you need to also invest in developing your brand in the minds of customers and prospects. And that’s where your newly empowered ad banner comes to the rescue!

Have your own tips on banner advertising? Let us know!

Want to learn more on this fun topic? Check out these posts:

Creating brand awareness is critical to your online advertising strategy

Where to advertise online? Well that depends…

Want to learn how to write Google ads? Read on…

And don’t forget, we’re here to help… give us a call at 888-330-3236.

We’re often asked the question: “Where should I advertise online?” And it’s a good question… since there are (literally) thousands of online advertising options!

From paid search, to ad networks, to online directories, to websites, to social media… and the list grows longer all the time. Maybe all these options make sense for your advertising dollars, but then again, maybe not.

No worries, as our job is to help you get on your feet and moving in the right direction with online advertising… and hopefully keep you from taking too many wrong (and expensive) turns.

Now back to the question: “Where should I advertise online?” The answer depends on the following:

1. What’s your monthly online ad budget? There’s a big difference between relying on “word of mouth” and having lots of money to throw around. Not sure what you should be spending? Do the marketing math and find out.

2.  Who is the target audience you want to reach? The more you understand about your prospective customers… the better you’ll be able to reach and influence them with your marketing message. Who are you targeting with your online advertising?

3.  Are your customers local or everywhere? On the Internet, it’s easy to waste marketing dollars finding prospects who can’t buy from you. Yes, even online you need to think geographically. Getting started with your local online advertising?

4.  How will you know if your advertising was successful? What results are you looking for… orders, leads, sign-ups, phone calls? Figure this out in advance so you can measure the performance of your ad campaigns. And remember: without web analytics your website is flying blind.

With these questions in mind, here are some guidelines to help you figure out where to advertise online:

If your monthly online ad budget is less than $1,000, then consider:

• Paid Search: Google is the most popular but you should also test Yahoo/Bing. Keep in mind there are lots of other search-oriented sites that you can try such as Facebook, Business.com, LinkedIn, and (even) Amazon.com.

• Directories: These include the Internet yellow pages such as Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, and DexKnows. Many of these providers will also create your very own web page if you don’t need a fancy website.

• City Guides: Yelp, Yahoo!Local, and Citysearch offer advertising options that can be really effective if most of your customers live nearby. And if you have a local store then make sure and put it on Google Maps.

• Social Media: It’s time to get your business on Facebook and Twitter. Why not since it’s free to set up an account and get started building your audience! Ready to grow your business with social media?

If your monthly online ad budget is $1,000 to $10,000, then consider:

• Paid Search, Directories, City Guides, Social Media (as described above)

• Small Blogs and Websites: This is where knowing all about your target audience pays off… since you want to advertise on sites that your prospects frequent. Expect to spend between $100 to $1,500 per month. Need help? Find out where to advertise online.

If your monthly online ad budget is $10,000 or more (lucky you!), then consider:

• Paid Search and Social Media (as described above)

• Blogs and Websites: Focus on sites that reach your target audience. The better the match the better your advertising results will be. Keep in mind that many popular consumer-oriented websites require a minimum order of $5,000.

• Ad Networks: There are hundreds of ad networks to choose from. Select those that best reach your target audience. For example, vertical ad networks specifically target many consumer categories such as autos, travel, health, women, and even eco-friendly consumers! And like with popular websites, most ad networks want you to spend at least $5,000.

Remember these are just guidelines. So, yes there are ad networks you can try even on a smaller budget; and sure there are popular websites which sell affordable text links. But when in doubt, stick to the guidelines until you feel comfortable with your online advertising efforts… or you risk taking one of those wrong turns we talked about.

Don’t spend your whole adverting budget on one option (i.e., Google). Instead, test different alternatives to see what works best for you… based on how you measure success. And make testing your online advertising a standard practice!

With all that said… are you ready for your online advertising roadmap?

Thanks and let us know how it goes!

Or reach out as we can help too… just give us a call at 888.330.3236.

(Btw, this was an update to our December 2008 post)

Sure, it can take a while to build a quality email list. Totally agree. And if you’re starting up your business or need to boost sales fast… you don’t have the patience to sign up prospects one email address at a time.

Maybe you’re thinking the answer is to buy a “bulk” email list. You’ll then import the addresses into your email marketing software… and blast them with a special offer email. Sales will come pouring in!

Sounds pretty good right?

Wrong… don’t do it. Even though people often say you should buy not rent… when it comes to email marketing the opposite is true!

Here are 3 reasons why you shouldn’t buy an email list:

1.  The email list won’t be any good. Your email list broker has sold that same bulk list to many others who’ve been “spamming” away… making sure any prospects have long since unsubscribed. That means the list will be of poor quality and filled with people who won’t respond to your offer (sorry!)

2.  Your email marketing company will shut off your service. No reputable email service provider will mail to a list of purchased (third party) email addresses. Why not? Because they’ve learned from painful experience that these lists contain so many bad addresses that it’ll get them blacklisted (their mail won’t get delivered). Instead, they’ll refuse to do business with you. Don’t believe me? Read the terms of service of the company you’re using to send emails. 

3.  You may be breaking the law. Each email address on that list needs to represent someone that gave permission (opted-in) to receive an email from you. Otherwise, you’re spamming them. Did you know that? It doesn’t matter what the list broker assured you. You’re the one on the hook if you’re breaking the law.

Read about CAN-SPAM if you’re not sure what we’re talking about.

Instead, consider renting an email list.

Have a good idea which online publishers reach your target audience? (If not, our free service Leadtail can help). Guess what… many will have an email list you can rent.

You can pay publishers to send emails to their high quality lists on your behalf or buy advertising within emails that they deliver to their customers and prospects (e.g., email newsletters). You’ll get the added bonus that they implicitly endorse your offer… since it’s going to their own list!

There are reputable list brokers that can rent you opt-in lists of people who’ve signed up to be contacted about products and services like yours. For example, InfoUSA and CityTwist are worth checking out.

Of course, it’s not cheap to rent a quality email list… figure you’ll pay $50 to $150 for every thousand email addresses. But it can be worth it,  especially if the list is a good match for your target audience. Keep in mind that you’re also paying the list owner to handle your mailing… and to ensure that everyone on the list has truly given their permission!

Get started building your own email list.

Just put a “subscribe” or “sign-up” box on your website to make it easy to collect email addresses. And why not give your customers and prospects an extra incentive to give up their email address… like a free newsletter or coupon. You get the idea!

Over time, your email list will become your best marketing resource for growing your business. It really will!

Want to learn more?

Here are a few additional posts for your reading pleasure:

Email address lists: buy or leave alone?

Trying to turn website traffic into sales? Do this instead…

Does email marketing really work?

As always, we’re here to help… just give us a call at 888-330-3236.