Utilizing Dreamscape Marketings SEO capabilities and an aggresive Geo-targeting campaign, local businesses McMahon Auto, Assets Protection and BGA Insurance are receiving strong Philadelphia area  traffic numbers.

McMahon Auto is carving out market share against national competitors with its sights and sites set on Philadelphia and surround regions. The efforts of Dreamscape marketing in conjunction with McMahon Auto are helping the Philadelphia area fleet management company bring in valuable leads from their targeted market area.

Assets Protection is moving into new urban centers aggressively after already saturating several remote warehousing markets. With the help of Dreamscape Marketing, Assets Protection was able to locate new markets and position themselves to effectively utilize the new traffic Dreamscape Marketing was able to bring in.

BGA Insurance has a unique way of dealing with their clients, they treat them like individuals. Each client that deals with BGA Insurance receives a personal agent and has their needs analyzed and taken care of. With Dreamscape Marketing, BGA Insurance was able to focus their market and truly reach out to the local community.

With Dreamscape Marketing’s SEO efforts and Geo-Targeting campaigns, you can find and position yourself in undiscovered markets or areas of interest, without ever leaving the office. Contact Dreamscape Marketing today to receive your free quote and find out how Dreamscape Marketing’s SEO can help your business grow.

On May 21st, 2010, Google celebrated Pacman’s 30th birthday. Traditionally, Google has changed their logo to reflect significant or cultural occasions, but this time, Google took it a step further: an interactive logo. The Google Doodle, created by Ryan Germick and Marcin Wichary, not only is a full, 265 level playable version of Pacman, but also a very powerful marketing tool. One would simply have to go to Google and click “insert coin” to play the full game. As a bonus, the developers also had an option to make the game two-player: if you click “insert coin” twice, Ms. Pacman would join the game, to share the nostalgia. Anyone who wished to play had 48 hours to do so; however, the game became so popular that Google left it permanently on its site easily found through the appropriate search query.

Banking on current nostalgia trends throughout various marketing fields, evident most in the movie industry. Almost every other movie is recreating something from out childhood to phenomenal market success. A very popular marketing strategy now is manipulating the draw to childhood loves and this nostalgic game not only created plenty of web traffic, but it increased the amount of time users spent on Google’s website that day. During this celebration of Pacman, time spent on the site went from 11 seconds to 47 seconds on average – a monumental increase. The actual time spent playing Google Pacman is probably much higher as companies report as much as 4.82 million productivity hours lost due to this doodle, and many users didn’t even know that the doodle was playable so the number could have been much higher. This cost companies a total of $123,483,800. This creative marketing strategy fits right into the psychology of buying. The nostalgia of playing an old childhood favorite keeps people coming back and staying longer; imagine the implications on your own site. What types of interactive marketing can your company use on their site to increase the time users spend on the site? The web world knows that the more time a potential client spends on your site, the more likely they are to invest in your products or services. Only time will tell the marketwide implications of the doodle, but Google has served notice that creativity pays – it’s time to take notice.

In 2007 the SPCA debuted a commercial featuring the faces of sad dogs and cats, while Sarah McLachlan sang “Angel” in the background. In one year, that single advertisement raised over $30 million for the animal adoption agency.

To get people to buy, you have to appeal to their emotions.

Contentment is capitalism’s worst enemy. We are constantly spending money, because we are constantly trying to make our lives better.

But whether it be the new shirt which will make us seem more fashionable, or the maid service that will save us time, or that cup of coffee that keeps us going in the morning – we need to be emotionally instigated.

Lori Turner, of the Memphis Daily News, recently composed a list of the different buying-types and the desires that drive them:

-      Survivor Buyer

• Buys to fulfill basic needs, whether that be food, or perceived needs (such as a cellphone)

-      Convenience Buyer

• Buys services or products that help save time

-      Scarcity Buyer

• Buys whatever is in limited quantity in order to achieve the status of a “haver” in a “have-not” world

-      Prestige Buyer

• Buys to promote social standing

-      Community-Focused Buyer

• Buys in order to be a part of a community (such as, Apple users)

-      Value-Minded Buyer

• Buys products whose perceived value is greater than actual cost

-      Fearful Buyer

• Buys to eliminate fear (such as bed bug mattress covers)

But now that it’s not the early 1900s, we are overwhelmed with choices. Not only do we need to know what to buy to make our lives better, we need to know which brand is the best option. The business that takes the time to fully understand their key demographic, and that demographic’s buying-type, will  have a better chance of achieving the right emotional response to gain and keep consumers.

Whether you believe in global warming or not, in today’s market, you can really only benefit from initiating some “green” processes for your business. Not only will this boost your creditability to any potential conservation-conscious consumer, it may also help save you money.

One of the best things that may have ever happened to trees was the Internet. Here are some ways to use it to its “green advantage:”

Declare your business a “paper-free” zone.

-      Encourage your employees to use a shared drive to work on projects.

-      Instead of snail mail, use email to send out promotions and newsletters.

-      Use SEO and social media avenues to help increase web traffic to your site (therefore negating the need for mailings all together).

Understandably, most businesses can’t function completely without paper. But there are many ways you can still conserve.

-      Buy in bulk. Doing so reduces the amount of energy required for packaging and shipping. It will also save you money.

-      Encourage recycling by having bins available around the office.

-      Avoid printing large quantities of time-sensitive advertisements.

-      Avoid mass-mailings and instead send well-researched direct mail.

Every business setting is unique, so chances are there a variety of additional ways that you can help reduce, reuse, and recycle within your company. At Dreamscape, we purposefully chose a dark background color for our website, because darker pixels require less energy. This also helps us reduce our monthly energy bill.

But beyond saving money, you may actually see a return on your green “investment,” as many consumers consider environmental sustainability when choosing a product or service.

A tradeshow offers you the chance to do something you don’t often have the opportunity to do: walk into a room full of your key demographic. But if you’re not prepared properly, it won’t matter who’s in the room. It’s like being handed an apple when you don’t have any teeth.

The key to a being a success at a trade show is making sure:

-      You cater to your demographic

-      You stand out amongst your peers

-      You are aware of logistics

Demographic

You originally enter a trade show because you deem the demographic to be beneficial to your brand. But what is important is that prior to the trade show, you identify sub-groups within the tradeshow’s general demographic. This way, you can fully prepare to cater to whatever types of potential consumers may wander past your booth.

For example: if you’re going to a pet supply tradeshow, and you are a company who sells organic cotton leashes, identify how you can appeal to environmentally conscious dog owners. Then determine how you may reach those dog owners who have no environmental stance or even pet owners that like to walk their cats (it never hurts to think outside the box).

Stand Out

Chances are there will be a number of different companies hawking their own leashes as well. Find a way to stand out. Perhaps hang your leashes from trees made of dog bones or prove how strong your leashes are by bringing in a few heavyweight champs to have a leash tug-of-war.

Creativity will broadcast your business.

Logistics

One of the things that we, at Dreamscape, have found to be an important part of being successful at a tradeshow is planning for the general logistics of the show itself. Considerations include: developing timelines and budgets, determining where your company should be positioned within the show, and what tools will be available at your disposal. The last thing you want is to be disorganized, because this will reflect poorly on your company.

Tradeshows really can be a very fruitful and fun experience if you are well prepared. Top the preparation off with a “Wow!” factor and you’ll be sure to convince cat owners that walking is all the rage.

You’ll never be able to talk about a bird “tweeting” without thinking of social media ever again.

Twitter, technically, is a micro-blogging platform. Users write 140 character blog posts, or “tweets,” and can also share photos, videos, and web links. The service has gained a quick following and companies do best to jump on board.

Ways Twitter Serves as a Great Marketing Tool:

-      Encourages Dialogue

-      Broadens Promotions

-      Raises Awareness

Dialogue

Many companies use their Twitter accounts to respond to questions and ask questions of their followers. It’s a great way to establish a personal connection between you and your potential customers.

This dialogue is effective, but what may be even more effective, is when a figurehead of the company is the one with the Twitter account. The personalization that this allows is a far greater use of Twitter as a tool, because the more a consumer feels they can trust the people behind a brand, the more likely they are to trust the brand. Bill Gates is an example of this.

Another clever way to reach customers is by using a company’s character. These characters are typically followed because the content, if well written, is highly entertaining, like Geico’s Gecko.

Promotions

A great way to further your outreach via Twitter is to use Twitter as a format for promotions.  Say you have 800 followers. To increase your followers to 1,000, you could offer a special discount code for your online site if you reach 1,000 by a certain time period.

Not only will this help you build a stronger consumer base, it will also encourage people to make that “first-time buy” which will hopefully lead to many more purchases.

Awareness

There are many avenues you can take to increase awareness of your business using Twitter. The more interesting the better. For another idea, encourage fans to tweet pictures using your products or services. If a follower of theirs sees their tweet, they may not only follow your company – but also may be prompted to use your products or services as well.

The most important things to remember with a Twitter account is to keep it active and keep it interesting. A Twitter that is rarely updated or updated with mundane Tweets (such as, “Writing grant proposals today”) will not help the company. In fact, it may reflect poorly on the brand.

Marketing for any business must include:

-      Determining your marketing goals

-      Identifying your key demographic

-      Developing a plan to reach this demographic

-      Implementing this plan

When it comes to marketing for small businesses versus large businesses, the principles are the same. The difference lies in selectivity. Large businesses can afford to spread their marketing initiatives over a variety of mediums, small businesses have to choose the avenues that will be the most beneficial.

Dreamscape has a lot of experience improving the marketing efforts of small businesses. Here are some important aspects for you to consider:

Power of the Internet

It’s very important that all businesses have an online presence. This should start with a well written, attractive, and easily navigable website.  But to further your outreach, consider creating a Facebook page and a Twitter account for your business. Both services are free, and if you use them well, you will see a positive return on your time investment.

Some quick rules of thumb: enter at least one Tweet a day, post somewhere between 1-4 items on your Facebook page a week, and always respond to people that reach out to you on both mediums. Your customers want to be valued, starting and continuing a dialogue online is an easy (and, once again, free) way to show them they are appreciated.

Budget Marketing

Beyond free social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, most other marketing initiatives will cost you money. However, there are some actions you can take to reduce marketing expenses.

Budget-Conscious Marketing Ideas:

-      Piggy-Back

• Have a booth set up at an event, such as a charity walk or run, or partner with another business to send out mutual mailings and increase your customer base.

-      Barter

• Offer some of your products or services for advertising space.

-       Always be “On”

• Take every opportunity to promote your business. When you send out mail, toss in a brochure. At the end of your emails, list your web address and a very brief pitch.

It’s important to remember that any marketing effort, no matter how expensive or cheap, will do you no good if you’re reaching out to the wrong demographic. Always take the time to determine your demographic.

If you do this, chances are your “small business” won’t stay small for very long.

The best choice for your domain name is the name of your website.

These days, most companies register the same domain name as their company name. So, when people look up your company, they will type in www.yourcompany.com. If instead another site pops up, or worse yet, your competitor’s website pops up, you run a great risk of losing a sale.

Don’t expect a potential (or even current) customer to remember a strange or difficult URL. You want to make finding your company online as easy as possible.

If the domain name you would like is already taken, you have three options:

1.     Consider changing your company’s name. This really applies only to businesses that have yet to establish any sort of presence.

2.     Buy the domain name from the current owner.

3.     Tweak your domain name slightly, by adding a “the,” for example.

If you’d like to go with option two, use a WHOIS service to determine who currently owns the domain. Chances are whoever owns it well sell it to you, but at a higher fee than you would initially purchase it for.

SEO

It’s also important to consider SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when registering your domain. If your site is selling used cars, you may choose to use the keywords “used cars” within your domain name. It will be easier for search engines to find and list your businesses’ website this way.

.Com or .Net?

If .Com is taken but .Net (or another domain location, such as .Org) is not, should you use it? It depends. The first thought must always be the potential customer.

If you think it would be easier to increase traffic with a .Net domain that actually uses your business name, then do so. If you’d rather run the risk of skewing your business name for the .Com, then do so. .Com is searched first over .Net by search engine algorithms, so it will help for SEO. However, if your site is a .Com with a name other than your business name, it may hurt your SEO campaign anyway.

Whatever domain location you choose, if it does not allow for thenameofyourcompany.com, make sure you constantly promote the full URL of your website. This is the best way to avoid any potential domain name pitfalls.

Facebook has been sued several times over privacy concerns. They’ve recently attempted to mend many of their security loopholes, but the platform is not airtight.

If you read the Facebook privacy policy, you will see that although you can control your privacy on the site to a certain degree, Facebook does have leeway with some of your content. Take for example, this statement in clause #3:

Even after you remove information from your profile or delete your account, copies of that information may remain viewable elsewhere to the extent it has been shared with others, it was otherwise distributed pursuant to your privacy settings, or it was copied or stored by other users.

Most Facebook users take for granted the “safety” of Facebook and many don’t consider Internet privacy in general. What’s important to remember is, once information is placed online, others can always find a way to access it.

Facebook as a Marketing Tool

From a marketing end, Facebook is a great tool. Beyond being a place for business-customer dialogue, many companies do well in developing applications (such as quizzes) that are entertaining for users. But it’s important to use user’s information cautiously. Certain applications that you may develop, could, if used improperly, get you sued. All press is good press – until you threaten your customers’ security.

Your Personal Facebook

On the other end, Facebook, and other social media sites like Twitter, can be very dangerous to your business. It’s important that your keep your personal life as private as possible. You never know what may offend potential customers. Let people follow your businesses’ Facebook page, but not your personal one.

The bottom line when it comes to putting anything on the Internet, is consider what your customers would think. If it’s something that may risk the positive perception of your business, don’t put it on the web. But if you must, make it as private as possible – at your own risk.

We’ve already talked about the importance of using keywords for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But to further benefit your SEO campaign, you need to know where best to position your keywords.

Best Keyword Positions:

-      Use keywords in web page titles. Web page titles are located at the top of your browser window, in the same bar with the buttons which allow you to minimize the window.

-      Web page headers are the next important place for keywords. Headers are the titles within your actual web page.

-      Website content is the next step down after titles and headers. Always place a few keywords in the first few sentences.

-      Use keywords as directional tools, as in buttons or links that navigate to the rest of your site. So, instead of “click here for more,” use site-specific keywords.

-      It’s also good to use keywords in your domain name if applicable, but not if it will make your website more difficult to find for a potential consumer.

General Tips for Keywords:

-      Organize your website content with bold and italics. This has  been shown to have a possible positive effect on a website’s SEO listings.

-      Use keywords at the beginning of titles. This is known as “front-loading.” So instead of “Darling’s Body Shop: Benefits of a Regular Oil Change,” use “Benefits of a Regular Oil Change from Darling’s Body Shop.”

When using keywords for the benefit of SEO, remember that “keyword stuffing” – the act of filling your website with nonsensical listings of keywords – will dramatically hurt your website’s search ranking. An excess of keywords with little relative content is an immediate red flag to search algorithms, stating that your site is not a high quality source.

Google’s Keyword Stuffing Policy:

“Keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of loading a web page with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google’s search results. Filling pages with keywords results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site’s ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.

Dreamscape has a lot of experience initiating effective keyword campaigns for a variety of businesses. If all this seems daunting, let us help.