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Smartphones have become an integral part of users’ daily lives. There is a swell in the number of people using mobiles to surf the net, check mails, networking as well as shopping. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate that by 2020 there will be about 10 billion mobile internet devices worldwide – 10 times the number of PCs currently in use. Here is round up on some of the strongest stats to support the argument that your business needs mobile marketing -

1        “The mobile Internet is ramping faster than desktop Internet did, and we believe more users may connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within 5 years.” – Morgan Stanley report 2010

2        “Internet companies and brands now have a new internet audience. These ‘Mobile Only’ internet browsers are the next frontier and are a glimpse into the next billion of connected consumers. In emerging countries fixed-line internet is being completely bypassed by mobile users and is an exciting time for content owners and brands to interact with their customers.” - Alistair Hill, Managing Director at On Device Research

3        “71% of smartphone users search because of an ad they’ve seen either online or offline; 82% of smartphone users notice mobile ads, 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase as a result of using their smartphones to help with shopping, and 88% of those who look for local information on their smartphones take action within a day. “ - Google

4        “70% of mobile searches lead to action within one hour, as opposed to online searches, 70% of which lead to action within 1 month.” -  Jamie Wells at Microsoft

Mobile Connection to Google Places

With a leap in mobile marketing, it’s more important than ever to have your business listed on Google Places. By doing this you can showcase your business to a large number of potential audience. Getting started on Google Places is easy. Create an account on Google Places and simply log into your account and create a listing. You can add coupons, description, location and you can use the QR code to market your business.

Making your website Mobile-Friendly

A mobile website is essential for marketing your product or service is best way possible. It is difficult to read full size websites, even on the larger screens now available in smartphones. A websites that you view on a computer often includes larger images and file sizes. These factors make it difficult to view any ordinary website on your mobile and so the images you see are distorted and the content is indecipherable. But with a mobile website you are able to present your website’s information in an easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate manner that is compatible with your visitor’s mobile device and much faster to download on the go.

So how can you make sure your site is up to par for all those mobile readers out there?

If you don’t have a site that works for mobile, you’re missing out on 61% of users that are unlikely to return to a site that’s not mobile-friendly. Here are some easy things you can do to assure a more mobile-friendly site.

1        Install a Plug-in

2        Create Easy-to-Use navigation

3        Write clear content

4        Use fewer images

5        Implement a good design

For more information on how social media can help your business, visit www.wsiwebapplications.com or follow me on twitter @cmappleton

Social shopping is just the latest solution to a constant problem for online retailers and shoppers. Many shoppers aren’t sure what to buy, but they know they won’t find it on the sites of mainstream retailers. The social shopping sites hope to gamble that enthusiasm into advertising revenue, once they attract enough visitors to go back to merchants with a better sales pitch.

The main trends in Social Shopping now-a-days are:

• Control rests with the consumers: Online research puts the consumer in control of the research experience.
• Research starts with search, but happens on brand and retailer sites:  Search continues to be a starting point for research that is a majority of shoppers begin research with a search engine.
• Consumers expect social tools for their research experience, engaging mostly with the basics: Shoppers are reading more customer reviews to be confident judging a product.
• Consumers seek a variety of voices throughout the research experience: Consumers trust reviews to corroborate other research/voices.
• Facebook is the social platform for researching/shopping: Facebook features show the most potential to inform buying behavior.

LivingSocial and Groupon:

• LivingSocial offers a new deal each day to its members who subscribe via email. After subscribing to one or more of its 580+ markets, users receive a daily e-mail presenting the city’s deal for that day. Members are offered discounts of 50-90% on experiences in their area. Once a deal has been purchased, members are e-mailed their redemption vouchers the following business day, around 5 a.m. local time. In addition, purchasing members have the option to send a link to any or all of their contacts and if three of them purchase the offer the original purchasing member obtains their offer free. Members must either print out their vouchers or download the LivingSocial app on their Android, iPhone, iPad, or iPod to redeem.
• Groupon prompts consumers of the world to get united, shop as groups rather than as individuals, so they can gain deep discounts from local businesses. Each day, Groupon emails its members one unbeatable offer on something great to do in your city. We offer consumers great values by guaranteeing businesses a minimum number of customers. If a certain number of people sign up, then everyone gets the Groupon offer. If that minimum isn’t reached, then no one gets it

How does the Social buying and Groupon work?

• At Groupon, for each new friend that signs up and buys a deal through your referral link, you’ll get a $10 referral bonus. So when letting your friends know about the amazing deal you found, tell them to “use my referral link to get the same deal and help me win 10 bucks.”  And if the deal is for a restaurant or local event, mention how fun it would be to experience it together as a group.
• Another way is to buy now and purchase later. If you feel that you do not want to redeem the voucher or coupon immediately, you can think ahead about what you may want. So, the next time you see a discounted offer you may consume it.
• Groupon and LivingSocial also offer free iPhone applications so that you may check the offers on the move.
• You can also save when you travel and access specific deals on the various social buying sites.
• If you are unhappy with the deal and fail to get proper help from the merchant, social-buying sites encourage their customers to complain to the site.
• You can also make suggestions, recommend or Tweet on the site

Groupon Now! is the newly launched feature specially for merchants. Groupon Now! is a great way for you to get nearby deals on demand that you can buy and use the same day. Most deals are only valid for a few hours and have a limited quantity.

For more information on how social media can help your business, visit www.wsiwebapplications.com or follow me on twitter @cmappleton

The use of Facebook advertising is one particular of the fastest methods by which you (marketer or as an organization) can get your Crowd Conversion out to millions of folks worldwide.

As an advertiser paying for clicks, you are indicating what is most important to you is driving traffic to a page on Facebook or your own website. You may want to focus on making sure your ad is highly targeted to the most relevant, appropriate audience. Your landing page should be set up to let users easily find what your ad offers. As an advertiser paying for views (impressions), you are indicating that it is most important for users to see your ad. You may also want to focus on making your ad as clear and informative as possible and having your brand or company's name be easily recognized.

There are 2 types of payment modes which the advertiser can choose to use.  The advertiser can either shell out per click (meaning you only pay whenever a person clicks on your advertisement), or pay per thousand impressions (which means you specify a quantity you would like to pay for the ads for each thousand times your posting is displayed to your targeted visitors). Targeting Your Prospects, Facebook allows you to target your prospects by:

• Age group
• Gender
• Relationship status
• Country
• Education level
• Languages
• Keywords

Effective Facebook advertising, though, requires that people recommend your offer to their friends. Attracting Facebook users includes subjective factors, and is more like making a great TV commercial. Everything you do has to be “right”—copy, images, layout, spelling—just to get people to pay attention.

Facebook is a great way for businesses to connect with existing customers, make new contacts, and get the word out about products and services. Following figure depicts the US Ad spend per user/subscriber:

The most efficient type of Facebook advertising is one particular that drives prospective customers to a site compared to a person that sells a product or service. You can also take advantage of friends talking to friends with sponsored stories, a natural way to amplify word of mouth. You can transform your website into a social experience with plug-ins and custom apps.

There are other drawbacks for serious business folk thinking about networking via Facebook. First of all, it’s nearly impossible to remove all traces of yourself from the social-networking site, even if you deactivate your account or request it be removed in its entirety. Then there’s the triple threat of potential legal liability, disclosure of personal information, and the risk of leaking corporate secrets. And in reality, not many executives actually use Facebook anyway, with many preferring more professionally oriented sites such as LinkedIn and Plaxo.

Perhaps the biggest downfall of Facebook is that the friends you have aren't always that. Some people may friend you without knowing a thing about you. Others might be total strangers. While Facebook allows us to connect with people, without providing the same type of interaction that you'd get in real life. This can give you a false sense of what friendship really is.

The best bet is to combine the benefits of Facebook with real, in-person, connections. It's okay to have a lot of Facebook friends and enjoy spending time on the site, but couple it with time spent with people you see in person.

For more information on how social media can help your business, visit www.wsiwebapplications.com or follow me on twitter @cmappleton

Landing Pages are simply pages within your site designed to gather hits and create conversions. These landing pages are just normal pages on your site, and you don’t necessarily have to use them to make money online selling products or services. However, they can bring in more passive income than any other product or service you offer. They are very different from home pages, but often the two are used together.

The following are some of the main characteristics of a Landing Page which will ensure revenue:

• Size and Graphics: Ensure that everything important to the conversion:  Call to action, images, headlines, and so on are visible without scrolling. The graphic should look professional but doesn’t need to be the same as the rest of the website.

• Heading and Contents: The headline should explain what you want to sell.  Be quick and smart, and include a slogan with more explanation. Show preference to bullets and numbered lists to explain the key features and advantages of using you service.

• Pictures and Videos: A picture or a video is highly recommended, almost mandatory but keep it simple.  Clients want to see what they’re buying so keep in mind that a picture worth thousand words.

• Buttons and Calls to Action: They must be visible without having to scroll and the use of colors and catchy words is helpful. Be a little creative and don’t use words like “Click here” or “Subscribe” but rather “Try it now for free” or “Join the community today” or “Buy now and we’ll toss in a bonus item” or “This offer is only available until ___”. Such calls to action encourage the buyer and create a sense of urgency in order to get the best deal.

• Testimonials and Trust Signs: Only a small percentage of people (known as early adopters) like to be the first to buy something.  Therefore, include testimonials and include trusted signs like PayPal, Credit Cards and Verisign logos to show your clients that your partners are solid and established.

• How many Landing Pages: Often one per site works, unless you are selling many different products or services. Still, if you use more than one keep them a bit shorter.

• When do Landing Pages work: You’ll know by the bottom line: the number of hits and how many conversions you get. Of course you want a reasonable percentage to go ahead and buy your product or service. If you fail to sell enough, you might want to rework the Landing Page.

• Incorporate Meta data: SEO is the foundation behind any pages on your website but no more so than the Landing Page. Search engines are hungry for Meta data to navigate so feed them keyword rich title tags and description tags. Your efforts should include careful marketing analysis to determine the most effective terms to include in your copy.

When you are looking to make money online you have to consider the user experience, marketing tactics, keyword research, and the effectiveness of your Landing Pages. That is why it is always a good idea to employ A/B split testing. It is difficult if not impossible in all cases to tell at a glance if one Landing Page will "sell" more than another. This is where split testing, or A/B testing comes into play. Split testing is the practice of using separate pages to sell a product in an effort to learn which one sells more and why. Frequently, advertising and search marketers will test components such as the length of sales copy, images which enhance the desire of a product or include empirical data such as charts and graphs to create a rationale of why someone should use a product.

For more information visit www.wsiwebapplications.com and follow me on Twitter @cmappleton

Social media represents one of the largest shifts in modern business—and because of this your customers are changing. No longer satisfied with listening to marketing messages and doing what companies want them to do, customers now want their voices heard and they want companies to react and fulfill their needs—not the other way around.

Social media marketing is simply too big a field for any company or aspiring web company to ignore. The numbers don’t lie. There are over 700 million subscribers on Facebook, an ever-growing community on Twitter, over 2 billion video downloads a day on YouTube.  It’s small wonder that these and other social networking sites are becoming key fields for any business, home business, small business, or corporation--to separate from the pack.

Social media can be an incredibly effective way for companies to get their messages out to their audience, but more importantly, it’s a way for companies to actively engage and listen. Social media creates direct access never before seen in the business world, access that helps businesses provide products and services directly to those who want or need them in targeted, real-time manner.

Google Adsense is perhaps the most well known social media advertising tool available, and the most powerful. Google Adwords (a sister to Adsense, and under its umbrella) and Yahoo! Search Marketing are also very powerful programs. Yahoo and Google implement social media into much of their projects, from blogging to messaging, and do so because it works. Social media may seem complicated, but using these two sites can make it often very simple and easy to get started.

Google isn’t technically a social media platform, but you can use it as a social tool to drive visits to your well-optimized website. In 2011, 58% of the US will have used the internet at least once a day. By 2012 that will be 60%.  There are officially twice as many people on Facebook than the entire population of America. If Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest country in the world. 7% of the entire world is on Facebook. With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people on earth, with over 250 million of them (over 50%) who log in every day. The average user still has about 130 friends, but that should expand in 2011. More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each month.  24 hours of video are uploaded every MINUTE to YouTube.  Over 2 billion views per day on YouTube which is double the prime time viewing audience of 3 major networks combined.

Social media is an invaluable tool for fashion brands and retailers. Social media has produced the most profound changes in communications, news dissemination and social interaction.

 Google Analytics (GA)is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. It is the most widely used website statistics service, currently in use at around 57% of the 10,000 most popular websites. Another market share analysis claims that Google Analytics is used at around 49.95% of the top 1,000,000 websites (as currently ranked by Alexa).

GA can track visitors from all referrers [the address of the web page (commonly the Uniform Resource Locator (URL)], including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, e-mail marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents.

Integrated with AdWords, users can review online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions (goals). Goals might include sales, lead generation, viewing a specific page, or downloading a particular file. These can also be monetized. By using GA, marketers can determine which ads are performing, and which are not, providing the information to optimise or cull campaigns.

Contact WSI Web Applications For Social Media Marketing in Canada.