May 2017

Marketing Trends That Will Define Business in 2017

Hello!

Much like technology— and often because of it— marketing seems to evolve into something new every single year. For example, what was once being accomplished through mailers is now typically handled on social media. For a business to be successful, it must keep up with these trends. With that in mind, here are the marketing trends of 2017 that will define the business world.

This issue of the Internet Marketing Solutions Monthly Newsletter is being sent to you courtesy of Watson Marketing Solutions, LLC. It is our way of saying that you are important to us and we truly value your business.

Email Marketing Actually Growing Even as naysayers continuously tout the idea that email in the marketing world is dead, enterprises that use it as a promotional tool are still seeing great results. Nearly three-quarters of consumers, in fact, prefer to receive commercial communications via email. Thanks to consumers’ preference for email and social media’s move to demand increasing amounts of money to reach an audience, marketers will be pushing out more via email. If prior success is any indication, this will help businesses that utilize the tactic.

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Livestream Marketing

Social platforms from Instagram to Facebook are now offering live streaming options for business and personal profiles. While this might seem like something that would only benefit those in the breaking news and entertainment arenas, businesses around the country have started to use the technology. Continued on Page 2

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Marketing Trends That Will Define Business in 2017

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As live streaming kinks are worked out and companies learn to utilize it, the use of the technology will undoubtedly grow. Consumers want to know what’s going on with their favorite brands, and what better way than letting them know right as something is happening?

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Influencer Marketing Goes Mainstream Having an industry influencer “sign off” on a company is a great marketing tactic. This can include anything from

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Funny Bone Monthly Humor Looking for a Job? Here’s What NOT to Do Here are some things actual applicants for jobs have reportedly said or done during interviews: • “Applicant stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application.” • “Applicant asked to see interviewer’s resume to see if the personnel executive was qualified to judge the candidate.”

• “Applicant announced she hadn’t had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and French fries in the interviewer’s office—wiping the ketchup on her sleeve.” • “Stated that, if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.” • “Said he wasn’t interested because the position paid too much.”

hosting a guest blog to posting content from the company on their social media page.

There are even big stars, ranging from wrestler Chris Jericho to alternative model Amanda Jean, who share content on their pages for additional income. Thanks to the relative ease in getting in contact with industry leaders, businesses will begin utilizing influencer marketing more in 2017. Even the most knowledgeable marketing experts can quickly become amateurs if they don’t keep up with marketing trends over time. Promotional tactics evolve over the years, and businesses that hope to be successful must evolve with them. ——————————————————————————————

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Best Advertising Practices for LinkedIn According to the Salesforce 2015 State of marketing report, “LinkedIn is the third most commonly used social network for business owners.” The audience on LinkedIn is active and interested, on the whole, and are ready to be marketed to. Spending your advertising budget on LinkedIn is worth the investment Out of all the social media networks, LinkedIn is the most efficient platform for reaching professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives. Here are some best practices for LinkedIn advertising to ensure that the targeted audience is engaged with your ad campaign.

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Quote of the Month

The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible. ~ Joel Brown

Have authentic content: When publishing content updates on LinkedIn, try to keep it ‘relevant, short and authentic’. Good content is likely to gain more comments, likes, and shares. Try to post unique and authentic content, because this will help your content to go Viral. Always remember, without these qualities your content will look like spam and will flop. Make your post Value oriented: Always remember, the content you are posting is for your potential customers, so to get maximum impact, it’s important to highlight the problem or the goals of your prospects, and what solution your business would provide to them. While posting on LinkedIn, your post should be seen to add value to the person reading it. Images are essential: Marketer Jeff Bullas cites that, “Articles with images get 94% more views than those without images.” Sponsored content containing relevant images and videos tends to perform better compared to ads without any visuals. The simplest way to catch people’s eye is to make use of relevant and attractive visuals, which will make them click on the ad. Set competitive bids: For each campaign running on LinkedIn, select a payment method, i.e. either Pay per click (CPC) or Pay per 1,000 Impressions (CPM). Continue on page 4 3

Scheduling Is the Key When it comes to the number one tip for being able to achieve that legendary work/ life balance, it would seem that scheduling is the key to all things. Work has to fit into a schedule, so the key is to ensure that you have a schedule that also includes plenty of time for your family, friends and personal interests/hobbies. Take your calendar and ensure that your family and personal time get as much attention in your schedule as your work commitments by setting specific times for all the important aspects of your life. Setting a schedule can mean making certain that the work day ends at 5:00 p.m. sharp and does not extend beyond that deadline, or making Saturday and Sunday exclusive family time. If having a good work/life balance to you means that you have time to exercise, then a lunch time walk or morning jog should also be put into your schedule. The most important thing is to reflect on what is truly important to you, and then make the commitment to ensuring you have the time to do it.

Best Advertising Practices for LinkedIn

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Think of it as the amount you want to spend for one click on your ad. The higher you set the bid, the more likely it is to receive clicks. The following are the few suggestions that will help you get the best results.  Set a competitive bid  Don’t set daily budget Caps too low  Set your daily budget higher Target the right audience: Before creating any update, look for the audience to whom you are going to target with the ad. Make sure you create ads that resonate with that particular audience. Through LinkedIn ads, you can target your audience according to demographics. Create groups based on audience demographics. After that, you can specify which group can see your ad based on demographics. Have an appropriate landing page: It has been seen that, “98% of online ads underperform, because their landing pages are not optimized.” The most important part of lead generation is not just targeting or ad creative, but lead generation also plays an inevitable role in driving your prospects to the ads. Make sure that you don’t launch your ad campaign without a landing page that matches your offer. LinkedIn advertising is an effective tool for small B2B companies looking to target qualified leads. By following the above practices, you can develop buyer personas and address them with customized LinkedIn campaigns and ads.

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Hello! Welcome to our first edition of The Small Business Marketing Minute. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ve probably notice a difference in format. There are so many important topics to discuss, we decide to add new components and rotate them.

Ensuring Business-to-Business (B2B) Customers Come Back All businesses want to make sure that their customers are happy because a happy customer will be a repeat customer. B2B companies are no different in this regard, and there are a number of methods by which B2B firms can ensure their customers keep coming back to them.

Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to friends and neighbors and share your personal journey also. Enjoy!

Quote of the Month We must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~ John F. Kennedy

One important piece of advice is to tell your customers something that they do not already know. Customers like their partners to be able to provide them with things of value, and new information constitutes just that. Continue conducting competitive and market research on your customers, and you will be able to keep providing them with new insights that could have important consequences for their business decisions. It is also a good idea to constantly monitor your customers and their businesses. Knowing precisely what is happening with them is a good way to ensure you will be able to offer them the best and most relevant recommendations, and if their company is in a crisis, it could be very helpful if you can contact them with a possible solution even before they contact you.

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Healthy Eating for Road Travelers Business professionals who have to travel for work and road rambling adventurers alike can find it difficult to maintain their healthy eating habits when they seem to be almost permanently living their lives on the road. Easily prepared food can be very convenient for such travelers but are also frequently unhealthy. Stopping for a quick burger seems like a good idea when you are tired and jetlagged, but while this may be fine as a one-off, doing it on a regular basis is not a good idea for your health.

The best solution is to pack a lunch before you set off, and this also means you can take the time to choose healthier options rather than just eat the first thing you see as is often the case when people are hungry and sleep deprived. Drinking plenty of water is also important. This may seem obvious, but dehydration can affect temperament in addition to health, making you tired and grumpy. Your body can be massively impacted by a lack of food, cold climates with higher elevation that you are used to, and the dry air common on airplanes. Ensure you bring a reusable water bottle and keep it filled.

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May 2017 — Word Search Puzzle

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A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER TO INFORM AND ENTERTAIN OUR FRIENDS & CLIENTS

MAY 2017

MAY 2017 Promotional Ideas—Daily Holidays & Wacky Days: 1 Loyalty Day 4 Star Wars Day 5 Cinco de Mayo 6 National Tourist Appreciation Day 8 No Socks Day 10 National Receptionist Day 11 Eat What You Want Day 12 Military Spouses Day 13 Birth Mother's Day 14 Mother's Day

15 National Chocolate Chip Day 15 Police Officer's Memorial Day 16 Wear Purple for Peace Day 19 National Bike to Work Day 20 Armed Forces Day 20 Pick Strawberries Day 21 National Waiters & Waitresses Day 25 National Wine Day 29 Memorial Day 30 Water a Flower Day

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Hello Everyone, I

I hope this newsletter finds you well. Things are heating up here in Virginia. I’m looking forward to a great summer. We have some big plans coming up. It’s hard to believe how fast the school year has flown by. Andrew will be taking his final exams at JMU during the first week of May. Becky will be heading to Harrisonburg to bring him home. He’ll be working at YMCA Camp Red Feather again this summer. They have a great summer camp. Jessica will be attending the camp again this year. May will be the final month for the Social Media Covers BETA program. The process is going great and I’m ready to go to the regular price. In case you missed it. We are designing and installing Social Media Covers. Let me know if you’re interested in the BETA program before the price goes up. — If you need help with your Internet Marketing, give us a call at 757-525-3447! ENJOY! Rod COPYRIGHT 2017

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