online strategies and tools - oliant solutions
DESCRIPTION
Oliant Solutions' presentation at the RJO Fall buying show.TRANSCRIPT
Strengthen Your Virtual Air Game:
Online Strategies and Tools
Carlos Frevert
Aug 13, 2011
Who Am I?
Active Duty – U.S. Air Force
13 years of enterprise IT experience
Founder and owner of Oliant Solutions
Jovian Labs – Chief Information Officer
Specializes in business IT strategies
Twitter: @OliantSolutions, @JovianLabs,
@carlosfrevert
Standing Orders
Don‟t hesitate to ask questions
Have fun
Why Does Being Online Matter? Businesses need to be where people are
78% of the people in North America on online
Gives your business a virtual voice
Cost effective way to extend your virtual storefront
Monitor customer satisfaction through direct engagement
Newer, younger customers are tech savvy
Establishing the Foundation
Purchase your own domain name
This is one of the most important things you can do for branding your business
Website Hosting – Find good, reliable hosting
Create an easy-to-navigate and informative website
Build out a site with genuinely helpful content.
Blogs are helpful for engaging new customers and keeping old ones
Your IT foundation is important for the success of your business
Pro Tip
Which URL fits a business‟ brand better?
Facebook.com/OliantSolutions
Or
OliantSolutions.com/facebook
This is done with a URL re-write
Integrate Google Apps
Google Apps: one of the most effective ways to manage
almost all of your IT systems.
Cheap and effective
A superior alternative to Microsoft Exchange
Easy to use email management system to keep you focused
on your core business
Unbeatable integration with other small business tools such
as MailChimp, Zoho, Freshbooks, etc.
Content Management Systems (CMS)
A website is only as good as its content – need ability to
manage and update content “on the fly”
Website needs to be easy to update & maintain
Multiple contributors with unique logins/passwords
Built-in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Big-3 CMS‟s: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal
Creating Content
What type of content should you create?
Information about your products and services
Learn to sell without “selling”
How-to articles
Customer „Spotlights‟
Staff „Spotlights‟
Community Events
Partner with other businesses and cross post content
Think beyond just your business
Analytics
Measure how customers are using your site
What content (products) are they looking at?
What content (products) are they not looking ?
What search terms are customers using to find you?
What websites are referring you?
How long are customers staying on your site?
How many visits are actually converting your „call-to-action‟?
Google Analytics
Google Analytics
What is Social Media?
“Social media are primarily Internet and mobile based tools
for sharing and discussing information among human beings.
The term most often refers to activities that integrate
technology, telecommunications, and social interaction.”
Examples of Social Media
Personal, Flexible, Popular
Wide-reaching, Immediate, Easy
You Tube
Visual, Engaging, Excellent Sales Tool
Google+Newest of the social media platforms
Personal
Connect with a person, not just a username
People influence the buying power of their social circle
Flexible
Advertising can be tailored to fit your specific audience
As of today, there are at least a half million users in the US who
have „Jewelry‟ as an interest.
Popular
Has more than 750 million users
Significant world wide presence
Facebook Tools Practical Application
Create a traditional Facebook user account
Create a Local Business page
Add business information, photographs and merchandise
information.
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
Promote your page with a Facebook ad
Target it to your demographic and location
Engage your followers with genuine content.
Twitter Wide-reaching
Over 190 million users tweeting over 65 million tweets a day
World wide presence
Immediate
You create an account and can start tweeting instantly.
Real-time: customers see your deals as you roll them out.
Real-time Feedback: Monitor what your customers are saying
Easy
With only 140 characters, it‟s not as labor intensive as blogging, creating a newsletter, or composing an email.
Twitter Tools Twitter Management Tools
A variety of different tools that have sprung up to make
management more effective and efficient.
Why do I need a tool to manage something so easy?
Business owners may own multiple stores in different locations,
each of whom are promoting different deals.
Business owners may not always have time to monitor Twitter
and post tweets to maintain a presence.
Examples of Twitter Tools HootSuite - http://hootsuite.com/
Offers excellent management of multiple twitter accounts and
offers analytics reports based on account activity.
Handles Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, WordPress, etc.
Has a free and paid version
TweetDeck - http://www.tweetdeck.com/
Free tool available as a desktop, browser, or mobile app
Also allows management of multiple Twitter accounts
YouTube
Easy and affordable way to upload videos of your special
events, sales staff, new products, and services.
Instant integration with many of the popular social media
platforms out there today.
Put a „human‟ face on your business
Another tool to measure customer feedback and satisfaction
Google+
Newest social media platform – released by Google in June
2011
Similar but different than Facebook & Twitter
Introduces the concepts of „Circles‟ and „Hangouts‟
Gained 10 million users after it‟s first two weeks
Integrates with some Google services i.e Buzz and Picasa
Just released their games section
Google+ Profile
Google+ Circles
Google+ Challenges
Not ready for businesses
Doesn‟t integrate with Google Apps…. yet
Google hasn‟t released their API
No integration with Twitter, Facebook, etc.... yet
Location Based Services (LBS)
“A location based service is an information or
entertainment service, accessible with mobile
devices through the mobile network and utilizing
the geographical position of the mobile device.”
Examples of LBS
FoursquareHas over 3 million users
GowallaHas approximately 500,000 users
Facebook Places Integrated in the Facebook mobile application
Google Places Integrated with Google Maps
Major Benefits of LBS
Captured TargetCustomer is already near your business, not your
competitors
Increased Impulse BuyingReal time delivery of advertising Example: 20% off for the next twenty minutes
Cheap source of direct marketing Electronic and on-demand materials at no cost
Email Marketing
Why email marketing?
Thousands of dollars cheaper than traditional marketing means
using paper based systems
With templates, can be easy and still personal
How can I use it for my business?
If you use a blog have updates sent directly to your customer‟s
inbox
Subtly remind your customers that you not only exist but are
offering valuable promotions
Email Marketing Systems
FeedBurner
Simple and effective way to keep your customers up to date
Free service – always
Integrates with Google Apps
MailChimp
Free up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month
Capable of smart email campaigns
Metrics, metrics, metrics
Real World Example - MailChimp
Scenario
Organization was moving to a new credit card processing
system
Needed to have re-occurring donors update their credit card
info
Needed to send emails but not spam those donors who had
updated their info
Decided to use MailChimp to keep track of emails metrics and
not send additional emails to those who had updated either info
Real World Example - MailChimp
URL Shortners
Takes a long URL and makes it a short one
http://oliantsolutions.com/2011/07/13/learn-it-as-you-
outsource
http://goo.gl/tuotG
URL Shortner Services include:
Goo.gl (integrates with Google Apps)
Bit.ly
Invaluable source of metrics and analytics
URL Shortner Metrics – Goo.gl
URL Shortner Metrics – Bit.ly
Businesses that get it Right
Mint.com
Financial Management Service
Informative blog content
Money saving tips
Basic information about advanced financial topics
Recent blog topics
10 Steps for Boomers Approaching Retirement
How to Know When You Need a Financial Advisor
A Homebuyers Guide to Evaluating a Neighborhood
Considering Pet Ownership? Here‟s How Much to Budget
Businesses That Get It Right
MailChimp.com
Email Marking Service
Customer engaging blog
Real examples on how to use the service
New service features
“Down To Earth” behind the scenes videos
Customer Spotlights
Computer controlled Nerf Gun
Parting Advice
You know what‟s best for your business
Establishing an online presence is not a silver bullet
Not all of these platforms/tools will work for your business
Decide when and how to engage
If you are not going to be on a platform, don‟t be on the
platform
Online engagement should be viewed the same as any other
business responsibility
Done by you or by a staff member you trust
Customers will respond if you engage them
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Carlos Frevert
@carlosfrevert
http://oliantsolutions.com
@OliantSolutions
Thank You!